Folklore

Folk - Lore

A QUARTERLY REVIEW

OF

MYTH, TRADITION, INSTITUTION, & CUSTOM.

[Incorporating The Archaeological Review and
The Folk-Lore Journal.]

VOL. III.— 1892.

LONDON :
DAVID NUTT, 270, STRAND.

LONDON :
CHAS. J. CLARK, 4, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, W.C.

R

1

CONTENTS.

I. — (March 1892.)

PAGE

Opening Address to the Folk-Lore Society for the Session

1891-92. G. L. GOMME - - - - I

The Lai of Eliduc and the Marchen of Little Snow- White.

Alfred Nutt - - - - - 26

Magic Songs of the Finns, IV. Hon. JOHN Abercromby - 49

Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs. Rev. Walter Gregor 67

Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions, II. Prof John Rhys - 74

Discussion - - - - - - 88

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. Rev. D. Elmslie - 92
Report on Folk-tale Research, 1890-91. E. Sidney Hart-
land - - - - - - III

Folk-Lore Society. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Council 130

II.— (June 1892.)

The Sin-Eater. E Sidney Hartland - - - 145

Samoan Tales, II. Hon. John Abercromby - - 158
German Christmas and the Christmas-Tree. Dr. Alexander

TiLLE - - - - - - 166

The Baker of Beauly : a Highland version of the Tale of the

" Three Precepts". Alex. MacBain and W. A. Clouston 183
Divination among the Malagasy, together with Native Ideas as

to Fate and Destiny. Rev. Jas. Sibree - - 193

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Mrs. Eliza GUTCH - - 227
" First Foot" in the British Isles. Prof John Rhys and

T. W. E. Higgens - - - - 253

Folk-Lore Society. Proceedings at Evening Meetings - 272

III. — (September 1892.)

Queries as to Dr. Tylor's Views on Animism. J. S. Stuart-

Glennie ..... 289

An Analysis of Certain Finnish Myths of Origin. Hon. JOHN

Abercromby ..... 308

Bantu Customs and Legends. Rev. JAINIES Macdonald - 337

Importance du Folk-lore pour les Etudes de I'Ancien Fran^ais.

M. Wilmotte . . . - - 360

iv Contents.

Folk-lore Miscellanea. Prof. John Rhys - - - 375

Celtic Myth and Saga. Report upon the Progress of Research

during the past two years. Alfred Nutt - - 387

IV. — (December 1892.)

The Easter Hare. Chas. J. BiLLSON - - - 441

The Bodleian Dinnshenchas. Edited and translated by

Whitley Stokes .... 467

Index to Places - - - - - 516

Balochi Tales, I. M. Longworth Dames - - 5 '7

Recent Greek Archeology in its relation to Folk-lore. Cecil

Smith --..-. 529
Title-page and Contents for Vol. III.

Notes and News - - - 139, 270, 433, 554

Review : Paul's Grundriss. Alfred Nutt - - 425
Correspondence :

Chained Images, Miss G. M. Godden - - - 137
The Widow's Son ; and Greek Folk-lore, Miss L. M.

Garnett ..... 265

Ethnologists and Anthropologists, J. S. Stuart-Glennie - 267

Branchos, A. E. Crawley - - - - 267

The Buck's Leap, Miss C. S. Burne - - - 427

The Flat-foot Question, Karl Blind - - - 429

Chained Images, E. S. Hartland - - - 546
Mr. Hartland's " Sin-Eater", and Primitive Sacraments,

Miss G. M. Godden - - - - 546

Christmas Mummers, T. F. Ordish ... 550
Folk-Songs and Music, Miss L. E. Broadwood - "551

Errata in the September Number - - - 553

Miscellanea :

Churn Charm, and Sympathetic Bees, Alfred Nutt - 138

Exorcism in Wales, GRIFFITH Evans - - - 274

The Three Precepts : a Norse Variant, W. A. Clouston - 556

Folk-lore from South-East Suffolk, Lady Camilla Gurdon 558

Folk-lore Bibliography - - 141, 278, 435, 561

Indexes : Articles — Bibliography - - - 569

jfolk^Xore.

Vol. III.] MARCH, 1892. [No. I.

THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS.

I BELIEVE the remark has been made on other occa-
sions, by other Presidents, that the Society might
have done much better by electing some one more fitted to
fill the post than the individual chosen. Other Presidents
in other Societies, and in this Society, have disproved
their own assertion by the benefits they have conferred
upon the bodies who elected them ; and I certainly must
pause to observe that under our late President this Society
gained a distinction and a place which even in the courtly
hands of Earl Beauchamp and the friendly hands of the
Earl of Verulam it had not previously obtained. I think
Mr. Lang's services cannot be counted by the number of
times he attended the meetings, the practical assistance he
rendered in organisation, or the addresses with which he
favoured the Society. It is by Mr. Lang's place in litera-
ture and science that we must measure his services to the
Society, and in my judgment they cannot be overrated.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is difficult to follow such a
man, even at a distance. All the qualifications I can bring
for the post are what I will term internal qualifications —
an intimate knowledge of the Society's affairs, an intense
love and enthusiasm for the subject it deals with, a strong
desire to see that subject dealt with adequately and com-
pletely upon scientific grounds, and upon scientific grounds
only. I am supported by loyal and kindly colleagues —

VOL. in. B

2 The Pi^esident- s Address.

men who know more of folk-lore than I do, men who are
as eager votaries in its cause as I am— and with such
support I do not for an instant doubt that we may look
to a successful year which shall stamp the Society as
one of the hardest working of the learned bodies. This
you must please accept as the key-note of my policy as
President ; so that by replacing a brilliant President by a
working President, who could not be brilliant if he tried,
and who is not going to try, you must expect from him
only what the change implies — namely, work.

For there is so much to do — much to do, I mean, in a
solid, practical way to convince a solid, practical kind of
world. I will not weary you with a long catalogue of all
there is to do ; but I can at least indicate the main outlines
of what appears to me to be absolutely necessary to our
present position as a Society. I would arrange the several
departments of our working organisation in somewhat the
following manner : —

1. The bringing to light of all the hidden items of folk-
lore contained in sermons, chronicles, local histories, old
newspapers, parliamentary blue-books, legal records, crimi-
nal trials, etc. All this should be brought into the archives
of the Society by first of all being reprinted in handy form in
the exact words of the original, without note or comment.
It forms our first platform,

2. The completion of the English bibliography of folk-
lore, so that all books devoted to folk-lore subjects may be
duly recorded in our archives and the particular subjects
treated of by them placed before the student, would form
our second platform.

3. The collection of all that remains yet uncollected in
each county of the kingdom would form our third platform.

Then comes the sifting, arranging, and docketing of
each separate folk-lore item brought together from these
three sources, so that all its phases may be before the
student — its earliest chronological mention, its most primi-
tive forms, the changes of form in the secondary or later

The President s Addi'ess. 3

derivative stages, the geographical distribution of the
various forms. Finally, there is the arrangement of each
item in relationship to all other items — the formation, as I
have before now called it, of the ancient mosaics of folk-
lore.

With such a museum as this to put before the student-
world commentary and discussion could at last be com-
menced based upon something like a solid foundation,
with ample means of checking conclusions and forming
theory after theory, theory built upon theory, if need be,
because the original foundation is fact.

All this, however, involves and implies that the work of
oral collection is one of the most important of our imme-
diate duties. We must get it in hand and waiting for the
printer to make it accessible to all. So long ago as 1852 a
suggestion was quoted from the Morning CJironick into the
pages oi Notes and Qnertes, founded by our founder, Mr.W. J.
Thorns, which is valuable even now : — ''Two young Finnish
students are wandering through the districts round Tammer-
fors, for the purpose of collecting and preserving old Finnish
folk-tales, legends, songs, rimes, etc. Their names are B.
Paldani and O. Palander .... why do we not follow their
example? When will some of our accomplished young
scholars wander over the hills and dales of Merry England
rescuing from oblivion our rich traditions before they pass
for ever from among us ? Surely the Society of Anti-
quaries might arrange similar visits for a similar purpose.
There is no want of men able and willing to undertake
the task, only the arranging-hand is wanting. In the mean-
time, let every man do what he can in his own neighbour-
hood." And the "noter" of this interesting paragraph,
Mr. C. D. Lamont of Greenock, expressed his willingness to
■ aid the cause by contributing to its expenses.

At last I can quote this with some satisfaction. I have
had it before me for some time, but only now can I say
^hat the " arranging-hand" or hands, the men and women
able and willing to undertake the work, and the contribu-

t. 2

4 The President's Address,

tors towards the expense, all come from our own Society ;
for a member of our Council, whom I am not at liberty to
name, expressed to me, not many weeks since, his desire to
assist by substantial money-aid exactly the same plan that
Mr. Lamont urged forty years ago.

But although none of the work of folk-lore has been
accomplished in the systematic manner which I have just
sketched, much of what has been done falls in a natural
sort of way into the ideal plan now proposed — nay, it
suggests the plan. And what has been accomplished is
quite sufficient at all events to indicate to the student
certain landmarks which are fairly well fixed, in spite of
the different methods and different theories of folk-lorists ;
and to these landmarks I would chiefly direct your atten-
tion to-night.

Of course, we all approach our study with a kind of bias
in favour of some particular view, and my own bias is
pretty generally known. I believe that folk-lore supplies
or the countries of Europe the anthropological data cor-
responding to what is being collected so assiduously from
people who are still in the savage and barbarous stage of
culture. I believe that the sanction upon which folk-lore
depends — namely, tradition — is diVera causa for its antiquity.
I believe that everything that owes its existence to tradi-
tion should be classed as folk-lore, whether belief, usage, or
custom ; and that each of these sections should be studied
not separately, as if they had no connection with each
other, but together, as the results of one common cause in
human history.

But with this bias it is easy to see that the first important
landmark is the influence exerted on traditional belief and
usage by Christianity. We see clearly enough that the
heroes and heroines of our folk-tales are certainly not
Christians, and Christianity is scarcely represented even
nominally in tales, except those occurring in Slavonic
countries and in Spain. But these exceptions can be
accounted for, I think, by facts which at once pronounce

The President' s Address. 5

for non-Christian origins. In the meantime cannibalism,
cruelty, revenge, magic, and other similar qualities, mark
the characters of the traditional nidrcJien or folk-tale.

In custom and usage the evidence all points the same
way. What can be more indicative of a dual system of
belief than the cry of an old Scottish peasant when he
came to worship at the sacred well? — "O Lord, thou knowest
that well would it be for me this day an I had stoopit my
knees and my heart before Thee in spirit and in truth as
often as I have stoopit them afore this well. But we maun
keep the customs of our fathers." And among the super-
stitions of Lancashire is one which tells us of the lingering
belief in a long journey after death, when food is necessary
to support the soul. A man having died of apoplexy, near
Manchester, at a public dinner, one of the company was
heard to remark : " Well, poor Joe, God rest his soul ! He
has at least gone to his long rest wi' a belly full o' good
meat, and that 's some consolation."

Special attention is needed to the characteristic of tradi-
tion which is not Christian, because there is an important
factor to take count of on the other side, which, owing to
some recent words of Dr. Tylor, is of some moment to us
just now. It seems to be admitted that the influence of
Christianity is here and there traceable among the tradi-
tional elements of savage and barbaric life. Thus the era
of Christianity becomes a very important dividing line in
folk-lore studies. On the one hand we have tradition in
Christian countries going back to paganism ; on the other
hand we have tradition in pagan countries going back to
Christianity ; and necessarily, when we attempt the task of
comparison, such phenomena must be taken into serious
consideration. But if we are careful not to ignore the
influence of Christianity upon savage beliefs, so must
we be careful not to unduly accentuate it. It would
account no doubt for some of the colouring matter, so to
speak, of savage myth, but it would go a very little way in
explaining savage ritual and belief The important point

6 The President' s Address.

for us to bear in mind is that, in both Christian and savage
countries, Christian influences, though great, are not abso-
lutely absorbing — if paganism, in short, is still to be traced
in Europe, we should be chary of admitting too much as
due to Christian influences in savage countries, for we have
not yet properly traced out the elements of Christianity in
Europe that are due to non-Christian sources.

I do not intend to-night to touch upon the influence of
Christianity upon savage tradition. I would rather turn
your attention to the evidence of the survival of paganism
in Europe ; for, though this has frequently been proved, it
is well to bear the nature of the proofs in mind. That
the Fathers of the early Church met with it, and recorded
it, is to be expected, and it is one of the duties which this
Society owes to the folk-lore student to collect together
the passages from the patristic writings which relate to
this epoch. Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Columba, and the
venerable Bede are among those who at once occur to the
mind as bearing testimony to this part of our subject ;
but the testimony wants a fair statement, and a complete
collection of its constituent parts. When it is got to-
gether, it will be found that the chronology of the evidence
extends down far later than most of us are inclined to
think. It was only in the 17th century that a learned
divine of the Church of England was shocked to hear one
of his flock repeat the evidence of his pagan beliefs in
language which is explicit as it is amusing; and I shall
not be accused of trifling with religious susceptibilities if
I quote a passage from a sermon delivered and printed in
1659 — a passage which shows not a departure from
Christianity either through ignorance or from the result
of philosophic study or contemplation, but a sheer non-
advance to Christianity, a passage which shows us an
English pagan of the 17th century.

" Let me tell you a story," says the Reverend Mr. Pemble,.
" that I have heard from a reverend man out of the pulpit, a
place where none should dare to tell a lye, of an old man

The President' s Address. 7

above sixty, who lived and died in a parish where there
had bin preaching almost all his time. . . . On his death-
bed, being questioned by a minister touching his faith
and hope in God, you would wonder to hear what answer
he made : being demanded what he thought of God, he
answers that he was a good old man ; and what of Christ,
that he was a towardly youth ; and of his soule, that it
was a great bone in his body ; and what should become of
his soule after he was dead, that if he had done well he
should be put into a pleasant green meadow."

Of the four articles of this singular creed, the first two
depict an absence of knowledge about the central features
of Christian belief, the latter two denote the existence of
knowledge about some belief not known to English
scholars of that time. If it had so happened that the
Reverend Mr. Pemble had thought fit to tell his audience
only of the two first articles of this creed, it would have
been difficult to resist the suggestion that they presented
us merely with an example of stupid, or, perhaps, impu-
dent, blasphemy caused by the events of the day. But the
negative nature of the first two items of the creed is
counterbalanced by the positive nature of the second two
items ; and thus this example shows us the importance of
considering evidence as to all phases of non-belief in
Christianity.

But I pass on to the two items of positive belief The
soul resident in the body in the shape of a bone is no part
of the primitive Aryan belief, but equates rather with the
savage idea which identifies the soul with some material
part of the body, such as the eyes, the heart, or the liver ;
and it is interesting to note in this connection that the
backbone is considered by some savage races, e.g., the
New Zealanders, as especially sacred, because the soul
or spiritual essence of man resided in the spinal mar-
row (Shortland, 107). And there is a well-known incident
in folk-tales which seems to owe its origin to this group of
ideas. This is where the hero, having been killed, one of

8 The President'' s Address.

his bones tells the secret of his death, and thus acts the
part of the soul-ghost.

In the pleasant green fields we trace the old faiths of
the agricultural peasantry, which, put into the words of
Hesiod, tell us that " for them earth yields her increase ;
for them the oaks hold in their summits acorns, and in their
midmost branches bees. The flocks bear for them their
fleecy burdens .... they live in unchanged happiness, and
need not fly across the sea in impious ships" — faiths which
are in striking contrast to the Aryan warrior's conception
as set forth by the Saxon thane of King Eadwine of
Northumbria. "This life", said this poetical thane, " is
like the passage of a bird from the darkness without into
a lighted hall where you, O King, are seated at supper,
while storms, and rain, and snow rage abroad. The
sparrow flying in at our door and straightway out at
another is, while within, safe from the storm ; but soon
it vanishes into the darkness whence it came."

But I must not now linger over contrasts in belief What
I am anxious to illustrate is that the beliefs of this pagan
Englishman reveal to us an individual whose stage of cul-
ture was due, not to the prevailing academic or religious
teaching of his own time, but to the ideas and beliefs of a
culture which had ceased to exist as a prevailing or recog-
nised culture for eight or nine centuries. Having ascer-
tained this much, what does it indicate to us further ? In
the first place, such a belief, such a veritable stage of
paganism, must have come down by tradition from pre-
Christian times. It cannot well be that this Englishman
had gone abroad, and meeting somewhere a tribe of uncivi-
lised people, had overthrown what little religious teaching
he might have received in the seventeenth century, and had
deliberately adopted the religion of savages. It cannot
well be, either, that some uncivilised belief had travelled to
England, either by means of an individual holding such a
belief, or of an individual relating to wondering peasants
his knowledge of such a belief, and had by this means been

The President's Address. 9

sucked up into the life of this English peasant. And so
we get to the fact that tradition is the sanction for the
existence of this pagan Englishman of the seventeenth
century. In the next place such a tradition must have
been kept alive, not by means of one individual, one family,
one small group of peasants, who signalised themselves by
obstinately learning not to become Christians. It must
have been kept alive by the agency of a considerable
number of people ; and perhaps Shakespeare has preserved
evidence of this when he puts into the mouth of Dame
Quickly the information that Falstaff on his death -bed
" babbled of green fields". And so we conclude that in
this fortunate allusion in a seventeenth century sermon to
the irreligious beliefs of one member of a Christian flock,
we have one of those accidents of literature the discovery
of which is as important for the study of man as a dis-
covery in geology, in chemistry, is for those branches of
natural science. But let me point this out. If such an
accidental discovery proves so fruitful in good results it
behoves us to tap the sources of such information more
thoroughly, more scientifically ; and if any member of the
Society under my presidency shows himself unduly restive
or sceptical as to folk-lore methods, I shall set him to
work to wade through all the dreary tomes of sermons
which theologians have flung upon a book-ridden world.

When we folk-lorists, then, claim that certain legends or
customs or beliefs are relics of a prehistoric culture, we
have at least the support of actual fact to show that the
culture of historic times has not penetrated everywhere
among the people. With this fresh in your minds I want
to draw attention to an Irish custom which in some respects
is as curious and remarkable as anything I have come
across in folk-lore.

At Lahinch, a small village at the bottom of the Bay of
Liscannor, in Ireland, a remarkable summer ceremony took
place about the year 1833. It was observed in two succes-
sive years, and the details were on each occasion the same.

lo The President' s Address.

This fact is important, as unfortunately a minute descrip-
tion has not been put on record. A crowd of men and
boys walked for about a mile along the road which runs
al%ng the bay. At their head were two middle-aged men,
holding each by one of his hands a lad of about nineteen
years of age perfectly naked, while immediately behind
him was an elderly man (either his father or uncle, as it
was afterwards found out) holding a hatchet and a saw.
On reaching the bathing-place a circle was formed, and the
principal performers were enclosed in it. After a time the
young man was led out by another, who had undressed
himself, and bathed in the sea, after which they were again
received into the circle, when some ceremony was gone
through in which the hatchet and saw were used, and in a
{&\v moments a loud shout proclaimed that the mystery
was proceeding successfully. As soon as the man who
had bathed the boy was dressed, the crowd set forth into
the village with loud shouts, the two men leading the naked
youth as before, and the man with the saw and hatchet
following. Nothing could be found out about the meaning
of this extraordinary ceremony, and questions were not
allowed to be asked about it. A sort of horror seemed to
hang over everything until the bathing ceremony was
completed, and everyone, particularly the women, seemed
anxious to keep out of the line of procession, while the
ceremony was strictly guarded from the observation of the
"profane". As soon as it was over, all the rabble rout^
both male and female, of the village flocked about the
performers, and for some time kept up loud shouts.

What is the meaning of this ceremony? Can we think
of the nude figure as a victim or as a novitiate ? May we
connect some of the incidents, notably the supposed
secrecy and the absence of the townspeople, as parallel to
some of the incidents in the Godiva ceremony which Mr.
Hartland has examined for us } Or are we to think of it
as a mere piece of modern foolery of more than question-
able taste ?

The Preside7tfs Address. i r

I shall not to-night attempt to give the explanation I am
inclined to hold is the correct one, but I put these prelimi-
nary questions in order to ask the far more important one
as to what we are to do with such specimens of folk-lore
— a question which takes us in fact to the second great
landmark in our studies, namely, the point where we may
properly commence the work of comparison. Having
picked out any item of folk-lore, are we immediately to
rush off into foreign lands inhabited by barbarous and by
savage people, seeking for analogues? My answer is
decidedly not. We must first of all treat of them as sur-
vivals in British folk-lore, and we must ascertain their place
in British folk-lore, their relationship to other customs and
beliefs extant among the same people or within the same
geographical area.

Each folk-lore item, in point of fact, has a life-history of
its own, and a history of its place in relationship to other
items. Just as the biography of each separate word in our
language has been investigated in order to get at Aryan
speech as the interpretation of Aryan thought, so must the
biography of each custom, superstition, or story be investi-
gated in order to get at Aryan belief or something older
than Aryan belief We must try to ascertain whether each
item represents primitive belief by direct descent, by sym-
bolisation, or by changes which may be discovered by
some law equivalent to Grimm's law in the study of
language. Patient research must be the method of the
future, and we must leave off poetising about folk-lore, and
commence to arrange it in statistical columns ; nay, there
will be poetry in this even, for from such statistics may be
recovered some of the lost ideals and aspirations of our
prehistoric ancestors.

Such statistics will reveal some characteristics of folk-
lore, which, so far as I know, have never yet been taken
count of One very important characteristic is the pre-
valence of a particular belief attached to different objects
in different places. It will be in the recollection of those

12 The President's Address.

of you who heard Professor Rhys's paper on Manx
folk-lore that he stopped short in his explanation of the
superstition of the first-foot, because he had heard that,
while in the Isle of Man it was attached to a dark man,
elsewhere it was attached to a fair man. Of the examples
where, on New Year's morning, it is held to be unlucky to
meet a dark person, I may mention Lincolnshire, Durham,
Yorkshire, and Northumberland. It is, on the contrary,
lucky to meet, as first-foot, a dark-haired man in Lanca-
shire, the Isle of Man, and Aberdeenshire. In these cases
we get the element of "dark" or "fair" as the varying
factor of the superstition ; but instances in Sutherlandshire,
the West of Scotland, and in Durham occur, where the
varying factor rests upon the question of sex — a man being
lucky and a woman being unlucky.

Similarly of the well-known superstition about telling
the bees of the death of their owner, in Berkshire, Bucks,
Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Lincolnshire, Lanca-
shire, Monmouthshire, Notts, Northumberland, Shropshire,
Somersetshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Wilts, Worcester-
shire, it appears that a relative may perform the ceremony,
or sometimes a servant merely, while in Derbyshire,
Hants, Northants, Rutland, and Yorkshire it must be
the heir or successor of the deceased owner. Again,
while in the above places the death of the owner is told
to the bees, in other places it is told to the cattle ; and,
in other places, marriages as well as death are told to
the bees.

In some cases the transfer from one object to another of
a particular superstition is a matter of absolute observa-
tion. Thus, the labourers in Norfolk considered it a pre-
sage of death to miss a " bout" in corn or seed sowing.
The superstition is now transferred to the drill, which has
only been invented during the present century. Again, in
Ireland it is now considered unlucky to give anyone a
light for his pipe on May-day — a very modern supersti-
tion, apparently. But the pipe has been the means of pre-

The President'' s Address. 13

serving the older superstition of not giving a light from
the homestead fire,

I will just touch upon one other subject dealt with by
Professor Rhys during last session : I mean the well-
known custom of offering rags at sacred wells. Professor
Rhys thought that the object of these scraps of clothing
being placed at the well was for the purpose of transferring
the disease from the sick person to some one else. But I
ventured to oppose this idea, and considered that they
were offerings, pure and simple, to the spirit of the well.
Since the discussion, which took place in December, I
have turned to examples of the subject, and, among other
items, I have come across an account of an Irish "station",
as it is called, at a sacred well, the details of which fully
bear out my view as to the nature of the rags deposited at
the shrine being offerings to the local deity. One of the
devotees, in true Irish fashion, made his offering accom-
panied by the following words : " To St. Columbkill — I
offer up this button, a bit o' the waistband o' my own
breeches, an' a taste o' my wife's petticoat, in remimbrance
of us havin' made this holy station ; an' may they rise up
in glory to prove it for us in the last day." I shall not
attempt to account for the presence of the usual Irish wit
in this, to the devotee, most solemn offering ; but I point
out the undoubted nature of the offerings and their service,
in the identification of their owners — a service which im-
plies their power to bear witness in spirit-land to the pil-
grimage of those who deposited them during lifetime at
the sacred well.

Now, in all these cases there is an original and a
secondary, or derivative, form, of the superstition, and it is
our object to trace out which is which, for it is only with
the original form that we can properly deal with the com-
parative side of folk-lore. Do the rags deposited at wells
symbolise offerings to the local deity? If so, they bring
us within measurable distance of a cult which rests upon
faith in the power of natural objects to harm or render aid

14 The Presideiif s Address.

to human beings. Does the question of first-foot rest upon
the colour of the hair or upon the sex of the person ? I
think, looking at all the examples I have been able to
examine, that colour is really the older basis of the super-
stition, and, if so, ethnological considerations are doubtless
the root of it. Again, if the eldest son of the deceased
owner of bees appears in the earliest form of the death-
telling ceremony, we have an interesting fragment of the
primitive house-ritual of our ancestors, which might be ex-
tended into other subjects — as, for instance, where it is the
house-father in Derbyshire who carried the sacred fire
round homestead and fields: a fact not considered beneath
the notice of Dugdale.

When, however, we come upon the worship of natural
objects, when we can suggest ethnological elements in folk-
lore, and when we can speak of the house-father, and can
see that duties are imposed upon him by traditional cus-
tom, unknown to any rules of civilised society, we are in
the presence of facts older than those of historic times.
It is thus that folk-lore so frequently points back to the
past before the age of history. Over and over again we
pause before the facts of folk-lore, which, however ex-
plained, always lead us back to some unexplored epoch of
history, some undated period, which has not revealed its
heroes, but which has left us an heritage of its mental
strivings. Some folk-lorists attach this unexplored, undated
period to events which are crowded with specific figures
atmo doviini, but I am not one of these. For I believe it
to be by means of a scientific analysis of each individual
item that the folk-lore of to-day is to be traced back to the
early European peoples.

If this view is correct, the culture of these people, as it
is revealed to us by the classical writers and the chroni-
clers, must fall into the series at some given point. In
these writers, the early inhabitants of Britain are depicted
among the rudest types of people, one of their most
amiable practices being to eat the bodies of their deceased

The President'' s Address. 15

parents or relatives. Such practices have alarmed the
historian, and, at this stage, we have to meet his suscep-
tibilities. In truth, it must be confessed that the pic-
ture revealed by the early writers is not a pleasing one.
Probably for this reason, or as much for this reason as
any other that has found expression, they have been re-
jected as the proper ground upon which to found any-
thing like historical truth. The terms " savage" and " bar-
barian" indulged in by the Greek and Roman writers are
rejected by modern authorities as too harsh. They look
upon them in the nature of accusations against the stand-
ing and position of our ancestors, made by advocates
anxious to blacken the national character. Even scholars
like Mr. Skene, Mr. Elton, and Professor Rhys, though in-
clined to weigh these passages by the light of ethnographic
research, throw something like doubt upon the exact
extent to which they may be taken as evidence. Mr.
Elton, though admitting that the early " romances of
travel" afford some evidence as to the habits of our bar-
barian ancestors, cannot quite get as far in his belief as to
think that the account of " the Irish tribes who thought it
right to devour their parents" is much more than a traveller's
tale. Professor Rhys is not quite sure that the account
by Caesar of the communal marriages of the British is
■" not a passage from some Greek book of imaginary travels
among imaginary barbarians which Caisar had in his
mind"; and elsewhere he has similar doubts to express,
noteworthy among them being the passage from Pliny
which illustrates the Godiva story. Mr. Skene lays stress
upon the fact that Tacitus " alludes neither to the practice
of their staining their bodies with woad nor to the sup-
posed community of women among them"; and he offers
•some kind of excuse for the Roman evidence as to the
tattooing with representations of animals, evidence which
Professor Rhys, too, is chary of accepting in its full sense.
These are the doubts of scholars accustomed to weigh
the value of ethnographic evidence. But, in spite of them,

1 6 The President s Address.

I cannot help expressing the opinion that, when tested by
the evidence of folk-lore, those attributes of our ancestors
which do happen to have been noted will be found to
belong not to isolated peculiarities of a barbarous people,
but to a definite stage of human culture, will supply the key
to that stage, and will find ample illustration in the culture
of modern savages. Thus my point is that the doubts of
the historian can be removed only by the researches of
the folk-lorist. He would have no misgivings about accept-
ing early records when he finds that the records of alm-^st
modern times contain fragments of custom and belief
whose ancestry is plainly traceable to the savagery depicted
in the early records ; and of this there is ample evidence.

These questions as to items of culture belonging to a
system of which they are only the indicators, lead me to
the third important landmark in the study of folk-lore.
This has come to the front since the Congress held last
autumn at Burlington House. I mean the place held by
customs and institutions as a section of folk-lore.

We have frequently been called " A Fairy-tale Society".
I do not object to the title as such, because I love the fairy
tales which form part of our stock-in-trade. But I object to
it as a title equivalent to folk-lore. In my own mind I
have long considered customs and institutions to be pro-
perly a section of folk-lore, but it was not until last autumn
that any official sanction, so to speak, was given to such an
idea. How far is that idea going to be accepted by folk-
lorists is the question I am anxious to see settled.

At the present moment the subject is in somewhat a
chaotic condition. Students of folk-lore have pretty gener-
ally ignored customs and institutions ; and the inattention
has been returned with a vengeance. Folk-lore has long
been in the habit of looking far afield for the elements
necessary for its elucidation — it has ascended the stream
of time and seized hold of what fragments there are of
ancient faiths and ancient legend ; it has penetrated into
the lands of savage races, and has shocked the susceptibilities

The President's Address. 17

of Prof. MaxMuller by so daring an adventure. Butthe study
of customs and institutions (except in the one case of mar-
riage) has kept within very limited lines, and in Europe it
cannot free itself from the influences of ancient Rome. Sir
Henry Maine's masterly treatises have scarcely begun their
work before the fabric is rudely torn down, and once more we
are bid to keep within the meshes of chronological data,
and take care to avoid the conclusions of comparative
methods. Why should this be ?

My answer is, that the neglect in studying institutions
from their folk-lore aspect is primarily the fault of the
folk-lorist, who has not hitherto avowedly and openly
claimed customs and institutions as part and parcel of his
subject-matter. The method has been to pick out a frag-
ment of myth, a form of ritual, or a superstition, and to
compare them with their fellows in savage life without one
thought of the setting in which they are embedded.

But myth, ritual, and superstition make up part of the
lives of savages only when they are embedded in the
institutions which surround those lives, and the myth,
ritual, and superstition in folk-lore corresponding to the
savage original was once embedded in similar institutions.
The people of Africa, says Mr. MacDonald, worship not
so much individually as in villages or communities. This
remark holds good of nearly all primitive peoples, and it
helps us to understand an observation long ago made by
an English writer on the manorial tenant — an observation
which is more strictly true than is generally supposed :
" His religion is a part of his copyhold." When the jurist
talks to us, in highly technical language, of lords, free-
holders, villeins, and serfs, we must bear in mind that, at
any rate, these villeins and serfs belonged to a social insti-
tution, one element of which was religion — a religion which
we are studying as folk-lore, while the jurist is studying
manor-rolls and land-tenures as customary law, the elements
of both studies, however, being derived from the same source.
Some interesting researches I have lately been making into

VOL. Ill, c

1 8 The President's Address.

the history of the heriot assists us at this point. As it
appears in manorial institutions the heriot is, as you would
know, the surrender by a villein-tenant of his best beast ta
the lord. Its later history of course leads us on to the
evolution of rent ; and it would seem as if we had nothing'
here but a phase of economical institutions. But there is
some probability, though I do not give it as my final
opinion, that its earlier history might be traced back to the
ancient custom of the cow following the corpse of the
deceased to the grave, where it was sacrificed to his manes ;
and here we have, not an economical institution, but a
religious ritual.

I do not give this as a " showy" example of the connec-
tion between belief and institutions, but because it is illus-
trative, in an unusual degree, of my contention that to
know properly the beliefs of a people we must know about
their institutions as well. Mere floating beliefs incidental
to the individual could not effect a lasting place in man's
history ; and in studying beliefs we must be careful to
discriminate between what belongs to the merely floating
superstitions of the hour, liable to be displaced by other
superstitions if the influences change, and what belongs, or
has belonged, to permanent beliefs identified with the tribe,
clan, or people — institutions, in fact.

I will illustrate this principle in the study of beliefs by
an example taken from totemism. The origin of totemism
has yet to be traced, and I make the suggestion that we
must begin by examining the beliefs of the non-totem
races. When we do so, we come upon such examples as
the people of Ulawa, one of the Solomon Islands, who will
not eat the banana because a man of much influence not
long ago forbade them doing so after his death, saying that
the banana would represent him — that he would be in the
banana. Similarly, at Saa, in Malanta, a man, before his
death, will say that, after he dies, he will be a shark, and
the people will accordingly believe him to be thus repre-
sented, and his children will reverence the shark. In the

The President's Address. 19

island of Aurora, in the New Hebrides, women, before the
birth of a child, believe that it will be the echo (jiunu) of
some particular object, such as a cocoanut, breadfruit, etc.,
and they believe, therefore, that it would be injurious to
the child if it ate that food. Now, here we have totem
beliefs, but not totemism. And if, from such evidence, we
are justified, as it seems probable, in thinking we have in-
dications of the origin of totemism, there are some im-
portant facts to notice in the history of primitive belief.
We see, from this point of view, that the phenomena of
incipient totemism belong to so universal a characteristic
of primitive thought that they might be produced in any
race over and over again, and yet might never be acted
upon and utilised to produce any development in political
or social organisation. It is, thus, not the existence of the
phenomena which produces totemism ; it is seizing hold of
the phenomena by the tribe for the purpose of a new tribal
organisation. Given a tribe or race, whose habit of thought
has been fossilised into a groove for ages, and the phenomena
of totemism might constantly, generation after generation,
be reproduced and die out again, to be again produced and
to again die out. They are but vague, floating beliefs
appertaining to an individual, not belonging to the com-
munity ; and thus the principle which I have pointed out
must be considered in studying beliefs is fully borne out by
the facts presented by totemism.

When we come to take up the subject of institutions as
it must be taken up, there is, therefore, much to arrest
attention. Papers contributed to the late Congress serve
amply to illustrate this, and both Mr. Jevons and Mr.
Winternitz have made a splendid beginning in the good
work. Now, there is a method of inquiry well known to
mathematicians by which they first calculate what a mag-
nitude is expected to be, and then, measuring what is
actually presented to them, they arrive at the difference
between the two. This difference is regarded as an indica-
tion of the presence of some agent which was either over-

c 2

20 The President' s Address.

looked or not accurately allowed for in the process of
making the "calculation". This seems to me to illustrate
best what has been going on in the study of this branch of
folk-lore, and, indeed, of all branches. We have calculated
what the various magnitudes of folk-lore are expected to
be. We have " expected them to be" sun-myths and
dawn-myths ; the results of diseased language ; the
heritage of a race whose Aryan name is not the only
portion of its attributes which has been created by the
fancy of scholars. We have expected them to be diluted
literature, and, most strange, literature diluted with
savagery. We have " expected them to be" the outcome
of the Roman genius for organisation and rule. Indeed,
our calculations are as numerous as our expectations. But
the measurement of the " expected" magnitudes with the
" actual" magnitudes is a portion of the work yet to be
undertaken seriously. In some slight way I have at-
tempted such a measurement in the case of village insti-
tutions, and when I found that the measurement did not
fit, I sought for the agent which had been overlooked or
not accurately allowed for, in ethnology. But though I
have had a patient hearing, though some scholars have
been able to accept my treatment, if not all my conclu-
sions, other scholars in England, in France, and lately in
India, are impatient of my exaggerated use, as they term
it, of the phenomena of survival in English institutions.
But my use of survivals is the use sanctioned by folk-lore,
and if I have exaggerated it in its application to institu-
tions, so have all folk-lorists exaggerated it in other
branches of their study. Those who raise the cry of ex-
aggeration, however, do not attempt to explain the presence
of survivals at all. When they hear that the freemen of
the corporation of Alnwick used formerly to be initiated
by being dragged through a well on the town common,
they prefer to believe the silly legend about King John
having instituted the ceremony because he was once
ducked there himself It is an axiom of philologists that

The President's Address. 21

kings and parliaments cannot make new words. I think
folk-lorists will look upon it as an axiom that kings could
not inaugurate such a ceremony as that at Alnwick, which
must have had some more powerful creator than the worst
of English kings ; and they will bear in mind that, on the
coast of Ireland, is another water ceremony, where the
victim is not a prospective freeman of a municipal corpora-
tion. Our point is, then, that survivals want accounting
for, and, whatever may ultimately prove their proper place
in the history of our race, no society is better able to
account for them than this, no science better able to cope
with the questions at issue than folk-lore ; and I cannot help
expressing an earnest hope that we shall now be able to
attract to our standard men whose interest in folk-lore does
not lie outside institutions — that we shall be able, by our
methods and by our aims, to show that we occupy a place
among the learned societies occupied by no other body,
and which sadly needs being adequately filled.

In India there is a society specially established for the
study of institutions, and it has been called by the honored
name of Sir Henry Maine ; in England the Folk-lore
Society nominally occupies the ground. But if it does
not soon actually occupy it by paying attention to these
subjects, some other organisation will step in to do its
work.

What, then, it appears to me we have now to do is to
steadily look our position in the face— ascertain our re-
quirements, and organise to meet every emergency. Our
study embraces all that is traditional in its origin — folk-
tales, hero-tales, legends, superstitions, usages, customs, and
institutions. Every branch must be assisted ; every
student seeking our aid must be welcomed and assisted ;
every member must consider what folk-lore has become
under the auspices of this society, and must be a specialist
only to enable him to contribute to the general stock of
knowledge.

According to my bias, as I frankly term it, I believe the

22 The Presidenf s Address.

traditional element of our national life which penetrates
beneath the mighty stream of Christ's religion, which
touches prehistoric times through the early notices of our
savage ancestors, which is comparable to savage practices
at present the property only of savage peoples, is made up
of myth, usage, belief, and institutions ; and it is only by
getting fast hold of this mosaic that we can adequately
interpret the story of our race which it has to tell.

I have left myself but little time to consider our work
during the past session, and yet there is much to consider.
We have had papers before us on —

1. Desa^iptive Folk-lore :

" Folk-lore of Malagasy Birds," by the Rev. James Sibree.
" Notes on Manx Folk-lore," two papers, by Professor

Rhys.
" Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs," by Rev. Walter

Gregor.
" Notes on South African Folk-lore," by Rev. James

MacDonald.
" Relic of Samaritan Folk-lore," by Dr. Lowy.

2. Contributive Folk-lore :

" Recent Theories about King Arthur," and the " Lai of

Eliduc," two papers, by Alfred Nutt.
" Childe Rowland," by Joseph Jacobs.
" Notes on English Folk-drama," by T. Fairman Ordish.

It will be seen that the section of what I have termed
Descriptive Folk-lore is the fullest in point of results ; and I
am glad it is so. Mr. Sibree has always been a generous
contributor to our archives from a land which is particu-
larly interesting, and the minute details he was able to
throw upon Malagasy totemism is a really important con-
tribution to knowledge, as I think it takes the Malagasy
peoples out of the category of the non-totem races. Of
Professor Rhys's Manx researches it would be impertinent
for me to say anything beyond putting on record my

The Presidents Address. 23

opinion of their value, both intrinsically and as models for
all inquirers. Mr. Walter Gregor again sends us up a con-
tribution of great value from his own home.

In the Contributive section we have two masterly papers
by Mr. Nutt, and one by Mr. Jacobs; and the latter must
pardon my congratulating him on his attainment, on this
occasion, of true folk-lore methods. Mr. Ordish's paper is,
I believe, his first study presented to the Society, and it
opened up a subject which has been quite neglected by us,
and which is capable of yielding splendid results, for the
dramatic influences of primitive usage are very great.

A word or two more in conclusion. No doubt my
scheme of work is ambitious — perhaps, indeed, too ambi-
tious to realise. But I am not the one to shrink from a
task, however gigantic, if the possibility of good results
looms in the distance. And, moreover, the existence of
such a scheme as a working-plan is of great value, because
it not only supplies us, as it were, with the necessary
pigeon-holes wherein to place all contributions received,
but it suggests, and perhaps forms, a habit of research
among workers in one common direction. I therefore put
forward an urgent appeal to the Society to help me in
having these things done. I am willing to do all that lies
in me to do, and I ask you, by virtue of the office you
have elected me to, to bid me organise bands of willing
workers — men and women — who will set about collecting
the fragments yet to be discovered, and will read through
books, and copy out each item found therein, sending all
their discoveries up to a central bureau, and doing it all
persistently and faithfully as workers in a common scien-
tific cause. If I have your mandate to-night to attempt
such an organisation as I can, in my mental vision, see
before me ; if I can succeed in imparting to any of you the
great necessity there is for our Society to still lead the way
as first among folk-lore societies ; if I can put into the
feeble words at my limited command some indications of
the importance of deliberate work by us all in collective

24 The President' s Address.

organisation, I will undertake to say that all who help in
this good work will never regret it ; that as our monument
gradually rises from the ground-work into something like
perfection, hours and hours of pleasurable toil will have re-
placed many a moment which would have been occupied
less profitably, and if I know anything of the ups and
downs of life, many a moment of trouble and regret. Give
me, then, I pray you, the mandate I ask at your hands ;
signalise my personally weak presidency by making it
scientifically strong.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the land of Eutopia — as in
that London which Mr. Morris has dreamed about in his
beautiful dreams — all things are done for love. We folk-
lorists do things for love of folk-lore, and we find each
other thinking good things of each other, and saying what
capital people we all are. But outside the charmed band
exists a hard and cruel world, who pretend to say that
they cannot live upon love, even upon the love that folk-
lore produces for the human species. That outside world
demands money — money for postages, for travelling, for
printing, and for that awfully portentous item, " miscel-
laneous." Therefore, it behoves folk-lorists — or, at least,
the Folk-lore Society collectively — to possess a banker, a
treasurer, and a cash balance. I believe if we do good
work we shall soon possess the inestimable blessing of a
good cash balance. It is hopeless to expect that a cash
balance and a satisfied treasurer will precede good work
— it is putting the cart before the horse. The Council, as
you have heard in the Report, is attempting much, and I
am happy to say that two volunteers already, without any
suggestion but their own desires, have asked me to give
them some work to do, and they must pardon me if I
mention their names — Miss Dendy and Miss Richardson.
A suggestion I have to make is that the Council should
place some of its accumulation of work into the hands of
small committees of members, not on the Council, perhaps
presided over by a member of the Council ; and I would

The President's Address. 25

especially suggest a committee of ladies. But whether or
not this particular method be the best to adopt — and
perhaps we may presently have an expression of opinion
on the subject — I can assure the two volunteers, and those
who may hereafter offer their aid, that they shall not long
remain idle.

1 have wearied you, I fear, with overmuch detail — over-
much straining at points which, to some, may be so obvious
as not to need even a passing mention in a presidential
address, and an over-ambitious scheme of requirements.
My justification will, I hope, be found in the new progress
which the Society will make this coming year ; and if you
will withhold your censures, I am willing to defer receiving
any acknowledgments until, at the expiration of my year's
term of office, my successor will sit in judgment and tell
you whether my view of the case was appropriate to the
present position of the Folk-lore Society.

G. Laurence Gomme.

THE

LAI OF ELIDUC AND THE MARC HEN
OF LITTLE SNOW-WHITE.

" T WILL tell you a very ancient Breton lay, and as I

± heard it I will retell it.

" There dwelt a knight in Brittany named EHduc, brave
and courteous, and a right worthy man. A wife he had of
gentle blood and bearing. Long time they dwelt together,
and faithfully did they love one another. But Eliduc had to
seek service afar off, and there he loved a damsel ; daughter
was she of a king and queen ; Guilliadun was her name, and
she was the fairest maid of all her land. Now Eliduc's wife
was named Guildeluec, and so this lay is sometimes called
the lay of Guilliadun and of Guildeluec ; but its first name
is the lay of Eliduc. What happened, and wherefore this
lay was made, I will tell you truthfully."

Thus does Marie de France begin the Lai of Eliduc,
which she may have heard either in Jkittany or in Western
England, and which she wrote down sometime in the second
half of the I2th century. 'Tis an adventure, says she,
which man ought not to forget, and for this it was the
ancient Bretons, full of courtesy (and by courtesy one must
understand a fine appreciation of the sentiment of love as
it was preached and practised in the courts of France, and
of all countries subject to French influence in the I2th and
13th centuries), made the lay. By "Breton" there can be
little doubt that Marie meant inhabitants of the present
Brittany, the ancient Armorica. As we shall see, the scene
of the story is partly Brittany, partly South-Western
England. The fact that Marie recognised the lay as a

Eli due and Little Snow- White. 27

distinctly Breton production by no means precludes the
possibility of her having heard it in this country.

The contents of the lay are briefly as follows : — Eliduc,
from being the most trusted vassal of his master, King of
Lesser Britain, loses all favour, and resolves to seek
service elsewhere. He parts from his wife in great grief
and sorrow, assuring her that he will keep his faith to her
whole and good. Setting sail with ten knights, he comes
to Totness (Toteneis). In that land are many chiefs, one
of whom at Exeter (Excestre) is powerful, but very aged.
And because he will not give his daughter in marriage he
is warred upon by rejected suitors, and sorely pressed.
Eliduc offers his services, and defeats the king's enemies.
The king keeps both him and his men a whole year by
him, and makes him warden of his land.

Now Eliduc was courteous and discreet, fair to look upon,
generous and debonnair. So the king's daughter, hearing
much good of him, begged him, through her chamberlain,
to visit her. Eliduc complied. And when they met after a
while the damsel considered attentively what manner of
man he was, his face and his stature and his bearing, and
Love flung his dart bidding her love him ; and she paled
and sighed, but would in nowise tell the cause, lest he should
think lightly of her. On his side Eliduc went away sad
and pensive, thinking of the maiden, his lord's daughter, who
called him so sweetly, and who sighed. Then he minded
him of his wife, and how he vowed his faith to her. But
the damsel all night long neither lay down nor slept, and
at daybreak she opened her heart to her chamberlain. By
his advice she sent Eliduc a golden ring and a scarf And
when Eliduc received them, he put the ring on his finger and
the scarf round his body, and thereat the king's daughter
was greatly glad. But Eliduc had neither joy nor pleasure.
Evermore he thought of the king's daughter, and evermore
he thought of his wife, and how he had vowed faith to
her. Now one day as the king was playing at chess, and
his daughter at his side, Eliduc entered, and the king

28 Eliduc and Little Snow- White.

said to his daughter, " Maiden, thou shouldst be at one
with this knight; do him great honour; I have none better.'"
Right glad was the maiden, and she rose and called Eliduc,
and they sat afar off from the others, and she dared say no
word to him, and he feared to speak to her. But at last
their mutual love was fully told.

Now the King of Lesser Britain being hard-pressed by
his foes, repented him of the injustice he had done Eliduc
and sent to him, begging his aid and service. Eliduc could
not refuse his first lord. But when he came to speak to
Guilliadun, at the first word she swooned, and he lamenting,
and ofttimes kissing her mouth, and weeping sorely, " Sweet
my friend," said he, " you are my life and death ; you have
my faith, and I will surely return." So Guilliadun yielded,
and with many a kiss and vow the lovers parted.

All in his land were overjoyed to see Eliduc, above all
his wife. But he was ever sad for his love's sake, and
nothing that he saw yielded him joy. This grieved his
wife's heart, and she often asked him if he had heard aught
to her disfavour.

So the time went by until Eliduc should return to Guil-
liadun, as he had promised. He passed over secretly into
England, and carried her off at nightfall. But when they
were got on the high seas, and were nigh the coast, the wind
rose, and the masts were broken, and the sails torn. Prayers
to the saints and to the Virgin were of no avail, so that at
last a squire cried, " What boots it. Lord, to pray ? have we
not here the cause of our peril. Never may we come to
land, so being that you, with wedded wife at home, are
carrying this one with you against God and law, against
right and loyal dealing." But when Guilliadun heard these
words she fell fainting and colourless, and in that state did
she remain. Eliduc having flung the squire into the sea,
seized the helm, and brought the ship to land. Then
bethinking himself where he might find a fitting burial-
place for the body of his love, still deeming her to be dead,
he minded him of a hermit who dwelt hard by in a great

Eliduc and Little Snow-White. 29

forest. Thither he carried the damsel's body ; when as he
came to the hermit's chapel, he found it void and abandoned,
the hermit having died eight days before. So he laid the
damsel's body before the altar, and, with tears and sighs
and kisses, left it there. Thereafter he came every day to
the chapel, and behold his lady's face changed not, only
it became a little paler. But the wife of Eliduc, finding
him bereft of speech and gladness, wondered at his daily
absence, and setting watch upon him, learnt his visits to
the chapel. On the morrow Eliduc must needs fare to
court, and the lady rode forth to the chapel. Entering, she
beheld the damsel on the couch, and she was like a fresh-
blown rose. Seeing that body, those arms so long and white,
those fingers so slim and taper, she knew her husband's
woe. " Full well I feel it," said she, " for I too pity, and
tenderness fills my heart, and never more shall joy be mine."
Thus did she lament as she sat by the damsel's couch.
But of a sudden a weasel ran across the body, and the
lady's squire slew it with his staff As it lay dead its mate
came running, and would fain have raised its head or made
it move, and being unable, seemed sore distressed. Then
running forth into the wood, it returned with a flower,
scarlet of hue, which laying on its dead mate's mouth, life
was restored. The lady saw and marvelled. Seizing the
flower, she laid it on Guilliadun's mouth, whereat the damsel
sighed and opened her eyes. " Dear God," said she, " long
have I slept." Then she told the lady her story, and
bewailed her cruel fate. But the lady bid her comfort
herself " Eliduc still loves you. I, his wife, may not tell
you how grievous to me is his despair, nor may I say how
joyful to me your revival. Return with me, and I will
place your hand in that of your friend. I will release him
from his vows, and I will take the veil." Thus she sent
her squire to tell Eliduc that Guilliadun still lived. Over-
joyed, he hastened home, and finding there his sweet friend,
tenderly rendered thanks to his wife, and much and often
did he embrace the maiden, and she him full sweetly. The

30 Eliduc and Little Snotv-White.

lady then begged her lord to give her leave to serve God..
An abbey was founded by Eliduc, and the lady took the
veil together with thirty nuns. So Eliduc wedded his
love ; many days they lived together, and ever was perfect
tenderness between them. And lastly Eliduc, founding a
rich church, devoted himself wholly to the service of God,
whilst Guilliadun joined his first wife, to whom she was
dear as her own sister. So they three passed in holy wise
their remaining days, praying for each other, and mutually
exhorting each other to the love of God.

Everyone knows the story of Little Snow-White, of
Schneewittchen persecuted by her jealous stepmother,
welcomed by the dwarfs in the forest, and preserved,,
apparently lifeless, although in the full bloom of her beauty,
in the glass case guarded by the seven dwarfs, until the
destined prince appears. At first blush there is nothing
in common between this tale and the Lai of Eliduc, save
the one incident of the heroine's suspended animation, and
this is preceded and followed by such entirely different
incidents as seem effectually to discriminate the stories.
But it is a canon of storyology never to judge a tale by
one version, but to examine all the variants. These, so-
far as Germany is concerned, are brought together by
Grimm, iii, 87 et seq., whilst the fullest enumeration of the
non-German variants is to be found in Gonzenbach, p. 202.
The versions range from the Balkan peninsula to Iceland,^
and from Russia to Catalonia ; Germany and Italy being
the two countries in which the greatest number have been
noted.

In one of Grimm's variants a count and countess meet
the heroine by the wayside, and the count loves her, and
would fain have her with them in their carriage, but his
lady seeks only how she may be rid of her. Here then
wifely, and not stepmotherly, jealousy is the motive of the
plot. This is still more so in the Neapolitan version^
written down by Basile in the early part of the 17th
century {Pentanieronc, v, 5). The heroine having at the-

Elidnc and Little Snow- White. 3 r

age of seven fallen into a death-in-life condition, her body-
is enclosed in seven crystal coffers by her mother, and is
locked up in a room. The mother dies, leaving her house and
all her belongings to her brother, whom she strictly charges
to let no one enter the locked room. The brother lays the
charge upon his wife, but she, of course, no sooner his back
turned, has no first thought save to enter the forbidden
chamber. Her reflections contrast amusingly with those
of Guildeluec. Some may think them more legitimate as
well as more natural : " Well done, Mr. Keep-your-troth,
Mr. Clean out- and dirty in-side, so this was the cause of
your precious anxiety to let no one in, this is your idol
which you needs come and worship daily." After which,
having by her violence caused the enchanted comb which
kept the maiden entranced to drop out, and thereby
brought her back to life, she treated her worse than a
slave. Finally, in a Roumanian version (Schott, 6), other-
wise closely akin to Schneewittchen, the heroine, blinded
by her mother, is healed by the Virgin, even as Guilliadun
is brought back to life by Guildeluec.

These few examples show more likeness between the
two narratives than one could guess from the study of
Schneewittchen alone. Still one cannot say that these
parallels carry us very far, and as a matter of fact no one
ever thought of comparing incircJien with lai. The greatest
of living storyologists, Dr. Reinhold Kohler, has annotated
both Eliduc and the Sicilian versions of Little Snow-White,
and in neither case did he attempt to connect the two
stories.

When, nearly twelve years ago, I read my first paper
before the Folk-lore Society — that critical examination of
Campbell's collection which contained the germ of all the
scientific work I have been able to accomplish since — I
noticed the absence of the Schneewittchen formula from
the Gaelic mdrchen store. It was therefore with profound
interest that in 18S8 I noted a Scotch-Gaelic version
collected by Mr. Kenneth Macleod, printed by my friend

32 Eliduc and Little Snow-White.

Mr. MacBain, in vol. xiii of the Celtic Magazine (pp. 213
et seq.), and since reprinted in Celtic Fairy Tales. I give
below a summary of the tale, " Gold-tree and Silver-tree,"
with the more important passages in full.

Silver-tree, the wife, is jealous of Gold-tree, the daughter ;
she consults a trout in a well as to who is fairest, and learns
it is her daughter, whereat she takes to her bed, and declares
one thing alone will heal her, her daughter's heart and liver.
A he-goat's heart and liver are given her, and Gold-tree is
sent off secretly and married to a foreign king. After a
year Silver-tree consults the trout again, and learns that
her daughter is still alive. She sets sail for the foreign
land, and kills Gold-tree with a poisoned stab in her finger ;
but so beautiful did Gold-tree look that her husband would
not bury her, but locked her in a room where no one would
get near her. " After a while he married again, and the
whole house was under the hand of this wife but one room,
and he himself kept the key. One day he forgot the key, and
the second wife got into the room. What did she see there
but the most beautiful woman she ever saw," Taking the
poisoned stab out of her finger. Gold-tree rose alive as
beautiful as she was ever. At the fall of night the prince
came home downcast. " What bet," said his wife, " would
you put to me that I would make you laugh ?" " Nothing
could make me laugh, save Gold-tree to come alive."
" Well, you have her alive down there in the room !" When
the prince saw Gold-tree, he began to kiss her and kiss her
and kiss her, so that the second wife said he had better stick
to her and she would go away. " No," said the prince,
"indeed you will not go away, but I shall have both of
you." It is then told how the wicked Silver-tree is punished,
thanks to the second wife, and the story winds up with
" the prince and his two wives were long alive after this,
pleased and peaceful, and there I left them."

It is hardly necessary to set out all the interesting points
of contact between this and other versions of the Snow-
White formula, as well as between it and the Breton lai.

Elidtic and Little Snow- White. 33

Gold-tree is with her husband when the death-in-life trance
befalls her, even as Guilliadun is with her affianced husband.
She is locked into a chamber as is the Neapolitan damsel ;
found by her husband's wife as is Basile's heroine by her
uncle's wife. But these parallels are slight indeed compared
with the remarkable one afforded by the conduct of the
two Celtic wives : like Guildeluec, the prince's second wife
welcomes her rival ; like her, she tells him of the joy that
is his ; like her, she offers to go away and leave them
to their happiness, I confess I am more taken with the
frank and unaffected naturalistic paganism of the modern
Gaelic tale than with the monkishness of the 12th century
lai. The ending is more original, if not more charming.
Little objection indeed did the large-hearted husband meet
to his offer, and the last we hear of the three is that they
were " pleased and peaceful".

In his notes to Gold-tree and Silver-tree, Mr. Jacobs
wrote as follows {^Celtic Fai7'y Tales, p. 252") : — " It is unlikely
I should say impossible, that this tale, with the incident of
the dormant heroine, should have arisen independently in
the Highlands, it is most likely an importation from abroad.
Yet in it occurs a most ' primitive' incident, the bigamous
household of the hero. On the ' survival' method of investi-
gation this would probably be used as evidence for polygamy
in the Highlanders. Yet if, as is probable, the story came
from abroad, this trait may have come with it, and only
implies polygamy in the original home of the tale." When
I first read this note I demurred to the supposition of
importation within a comparatively recent period, yet I
could urge nothing against it. It certainly seemed more
likely that the isolated Celtic version should be due to
borrowing, than that it should represent the original stock,
always provided the hypothesis of independent development
from a common mythic germ were set aside as inadequate.
It was long since I had read Marie's lays, and no thought
of connecting the Celtic folk-tale with Eliduc crossed my
mind. But only a few weeks later I read in the Revue des

VOL. III. D

34 Eliduc and Little Snow-White.

Deux-Mondes (Oct. 15th), Mons, Joseph Bedier's equally
erudite and charming article on Marie de France. There-
in the lai of Eliduc is analysed at length, and as I read,
the supreme interest of the Gaelic tale was borne in
upon me.

It hardly needs to point out what that interest is. Con-
nection of some sort between the two narratives must be
patent to all ; evident also that the story of Eliduc is a
civilised and Christianised version of that found in Gold-tree
and Silver-tree. I say evident to all, as I cannot think it
will be seriously urged that the lai of Eliduc made its way
to Northern Scotland, and was there shorn of its ecclesi-
astical ending, and otherwise transmuted as we now find it.
But it is not safe to take for granted that a certain school of
storyologists will refrain from any contention, however
desperate, in support of their views, and I will therefore
cite one argument which seems to me absolutely conclusive
in favour of my argument that Eliduc has been deliberately
altered to its present shape. In the great majority of folk-
tales, as indeed of most forms of narrative, the interest of
the story depends upon complications wrought by the
agency of a " villain", a villain technically being anyone
who opposes the hero or heroine. In Eliduc the "villain"
is the squire, whose words on board ship throw the heroine
into her death-in-life trance, and as " villain" he is fitly
punished by being straightway cast overboard. But he it
is who embodies the moral sentiment of the narrator and
of the better part of her audience. It is inconceivable that
this antinomy should be the deliberate act of Marie or of
her predecessor, if either had invented the story ; equally
inconceivable that it could appear in any genuine folk-tale,
an unfailing characteristic of which is that it never deviates
into sympathy for the villain. We can see as clearly as if
the process went on before our eyes how one special
incident of the folk-tale appealing to the minstrel's fancy,
that incident was transformed to suit the taste of a different
audience. As generally happens in these mediaeval adap-

Eliduc and Little Snow- White. 35

tations of the common folk-tale, the adaptor cared little for
logical consistency, so that whilst his villain represents the
high-water mark of moral sentiment in the story, he yet
•suffers as he did in the primitive folk-tale, where he was
thought of as wholly bad, simply because his action incon-
venienced hero and heroine.

Admit Eliduc to be a modification of a previously
existing folk-tale, and the conclusion cannot be resisted
that its original must have been closely akin to the original
of Gold-tree and Silver-tree. Unless indeed we can point
to any other narrative type which is equally or more likely
to have given rise to the lai as we now have it.

There is a widely spread narrative type which in the
Middle Ages was localised in widely separated districts,
and furnished the matter of many favourite stories — that
of the Husband with two Wives.

This cycle has been briefly studied by Mons. Gaston,
Paris {Comptes rendus de PAcad. des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres,
1887, pp. 577-586). One of the best known of the stories
belonging to it is that of the Count of Gleichen, whose
tomb is still shown between that of his two wives. But
this cycle, so far as studied, is really of literary origin, and
goes back to the Breton lai. Thus one of the oldest forms,
the French metrical romance of Ille et Gateron, by Walter
■of Arras, recently made accessible in Professor Forster's
admirably handy edition in his Romanische Bibliothek, is,
as the learned editor argues, based entirely upon the Lai of
Eliduc, with such developments as were required to spin
out a story of r,ooo lines to one of 6,000, and such modifi-
cations as the poet deemed necessary to suit the theme to
the taste of his patrons and patronesses, among them the
Countess Marie of Champagne, the leading love- casuist
of North France, under whose auspices it was that the
theory of love, as professed by all the courtly spirits of the
time, was elaborated and codified. Now, as one of the
texts of this code ran. Nemo potest duplici auiore ligari, it is
evident that Walter had a task of some difficulty before

D 2

36 Eliduc and Little Snow- White.

him, and his work deserves an instant's consideration, ex-
cellent example as it is of the way in which the Breton lais
(themselves, I believe, adaptations of current folk-tales)
were turned into long romances. The adventures of
Eliduc at the court of the King of Exeter are, to some
extent, used twice over: firstly, in the account of how Ille
wins the love of his first wife, Galeron, sister to the Duke
of Brittany, and then — when Ille, having lost his eye in a
tournament, and fearing his wife will love him no more^
flees from her — in the account of the help he gives the
Emperor of Rome, and of the love he excites in the breast
of the Emperor's daughter Ganor. But Galeron, instead of
staying quietly at home, as does Guildeluec, seeks her
truant husband, and finds him just as he, thinking her to
be dead, is about to wed Ganor, out of pity for her great
love. Galeron then offers, as does Guildeluec, to retire to
a convent, but Ille will have none of the proposal, returns
with her to Brittany, and there they live happily for many
years. But Galeron, being in sore peril in childbirth, vows
herself to the service of God if she wins through. This
happens, and Ille, thus released, sets forth in search of
Ganor, delivers her from great peril, and finally weds her.

The above brief ab.stract suffices to show the softening of
the original polygamous feature begun in Eliduc fully
carried out by Marie's contemporary. In the process, the
" villain" has completely disappeared — as was, indeed, to
be expected. The fact is, however, instructive to note for
any who may hold that the lai of Eliduc is the source of
the folk-tales. When we do find a derivative of the Breton
lai, the development is in the very opposite direction.

The ersions hitherto cited of the " Husband and Two
Wives" can thus throw no light upon the origin of Eliduc ;
on the contrary, they must be looked upon as mere literary
offshoots from the lai stock. There is, however, one
version which has never yet been mentioned in this connec-
tion to my knowledge, which cannot be directly connected
with Eliduc, but which may be, and I believe is, an inde-

Eliduc and Little Snow- White. 37

pendent growth from the same root as that from which
Marie's poem has sprung. I allude to the Amleth (Ham-
let) story told by Saxo Grammaticus in the fourth book of
his Historia Danica. After the slaying of his uncle-step-
father, Amleth returns to Britain to his wife, daughter of
the king of that land. When he tells his father-in-law
what has happened, the latter is greatly perplexed. There
was an old covenant between himself and Amleth's step-
father, that whoever survived should avenge the other'.s
death. To fulfil his promise, he sends his son-in-law to
woo for him a Scottish Amazon, who loathed her lovers,
and always inflicted upon them the uttermost punishment.
But the queen loving Amleth ("the old she utterly
abhorred, desiring the embraces of the young") for his wise
and valorous deeds, craftily substitutes for the message of
his father-in-law one directing that he should be married
to her. Amleth readily falls in with the plan, and returns
to Britain with his new bride. On his way he meets his
first wife, who has come to warn him against her father.
Her words (I quote from Mr. Elton's translation, to be
issued shortly by the Folk-lore Society) are worth noting.
Speaking of her own son, she says: " He may hate the sup-
planter of his mother. I will love her ; no disaster shall
put out my flame for thee," etc. Amleth, later, gets the
better of his father-in-law, and goes back with his wives
to his own land, i.e., Denmark. After a while he is defeated
and slain by a competitor for the Danish throne, and the
second wife, Hermutrude, yields herself up of her own
accord to be the victor's spoil and bride.

I cannot but think that Saxo is giving us here at second,
if not at third hand a distorted version of an heroic legend
that his countrymen heard in Celtic Britain. My chief
reason for believing this is supplied by the Scottish {i.e.,
Celtic) Amazon queen, whom the King of Britain sends
Amleth to woo for him. The warrior virgin who will only
yield to the perfect hero, and who treats her other wooers
much as the female spider treats hers, is, of course, a con-

^S Eli due mid Little Snow- White.

stant of heroic tradition. As Brunhild she plays a great
part in the most famous hero-tale of the Germans. But
certain characteristics clearly differentiate the Irish from
the German representatives of the part. There is an un-
human independence of, or indifference to the mortal
wooer, a divine abandon when she decides to yield, a
callousness to the fate of the particular mortal on whom
she bestows her favours, that stamp her of the kin of the
immortals, that place her on a different level from such
beings, transcendently endowed with valour and high-
heartedness, yet women all the same, as Sigrun or Brun-
hild. These characteristics are clearly marked in Saxo's
heroine, whose conduct after Amleth's death moves the
worthy chronicler to one of his familiar outbursts of
rhetorical commonplace about the fickleness of woman.
Note, too, that Amleth's first wife is as ready to sub-
ordinate herself to her rival as are Guildeluec or the second
wife in Gold-tree.

It may be urged that the name Hermutrude is non-
Celtic, but I do not think this point is of the slightest
importance. Saxo would almost certainly give his per-
sonages a recognisable name, even if, as is not likely, his
Danish informants had retained and correctly rendered an
alien Celtic one.

So far, then, the consideration of allied stories has
strengthened my general proposition by showing, both : that
another possible offshoot from the original of Eliduc exists,
and that the derivatives of Eliduc show no tendency to
revert to the folk-tale type. A close examination of the
lai and the recently collected folk-tales may further support
the contention that the Scotch-Gaelic tale probably repre-
sents the original of Marie's poem, and almost certainly is
not derived from the continental versions.

With regard to the date of the tat, a terminus ad qiiem is
furnished by that of Illeet Galcron, finished, as Prof Forster
shows, in 1167. By this time, then, Marie's poem, or one
closely resembling it, must have enjoyed wide favour. But

Eliduc and Little Snow- White. 39

indeed we can carry the date much further back. Marie
herself describes it as ancient, but we cannot lay much
stress upon this. A work barely two generations old may
well have seemed ancient in her eyes and in those of her
contemporaries. Internal evidence affords surer ground.
The lai must have been composed at a time when there
was frequent and easy communication between Brittany
and Southern England, and when the condition of the
latter country was such that the Breton poet knew, or
could imagine, that it was parcelled out between a number
of petty kings. This seems to preclude a post-Conquest
date. The Breton allies of the Conqueror received liberal
grants of territory in South-Western England ; in the
second half of the nth and the first half of the 12th century
the chief men of the district were also leading members of
the Breton nobility, so that a Breton minstrel of that period
could hardly have been so far unaware of the real state of
contemporary Southern England as to draw the picture of
it we find in Eliduc. The mention of Totness gives us no
precise date. We know that at the Conquest it was
already a borough town and a considerable port, more-
over that in the early 12th century it enjoyed legendary
renown, as Geoffrey makes Brutus land there on his first
arrival in England. Whether this is to be brought into
any connection with early migrations between Britain and
Armorica is perhaps doubtful, but it seems to argue a long-
standing traditional belief that Totness was the chief port
of South Devon. I think we may assign the composition
of the contents of the lai, substantially as retold by Marie,
to some period prior to 1056.

Turning from the material to the moral conditions of
the lai, we note that although bigamy is held to be sinful, yet
no form of divorce or other kind of ecclesiastical separation
seems necessary. The arrangement between Eliduc and
his two wives is apparently a family one, with which the
Church has no concern. I do not profess to say how far
this reflects possible historical conditions, or is simply to

40 Eliduc and Little Snow- White.

be attributed to a heedless and unlegal-minded minstrel.
Be the origin of this feature what it may, it certainly adds
to the archaic air which the lai, as a whole, wears.

Turning to the German folk-tale, we note that according
to Grimm (iii, 87) the form of the heroine's name is Low-
German, and is retained even in High-German versions. This
would indicate, if anything, a spread from north to south.
The tale opens with the red-white-black incident, which, as
I have abundantly shown (Maclnnes, pp. 431 and 435), is met
with in Irish sagas earlier than elsewhere in modern Europe,
and has from the i ith century downwards been a prominent
commonplace of Celtic story-telling. If it is denied, as
some deny, that such an incident may originate indepen-
dently in different lands, and if it is denied, as many deny,
that it is impossible for such an incident to be a portion of
the proethnic Aryan story-stock, then I maintain that those
who thus deny are bound to look for the origin of the incident
there where it occurs earliest and most frequently. And
that is in the Gaelic-speaking districts of these islands.
Again, it should be noted that in several of Grimm's
variants the rhyme of the jealous queen runs thus :

"Spiegel unter den Bank,
Sich in dieses Land, sich in jenes Land,
Wer ist die schonste in EngellandV

I do not lay much stress upon this, as from the fourth
century onwards, England, thanks to its geographical
position and to a natural bit of popular etymology, repre-
sented the Otherworld to the continental German races.
In one case (Musaus' version) the rhyme-word is " Braband".
Lay as little weight upon these indications as one likes —
and in my opinion they do not carry much weight — still they
serve to localise the German versions in the Low-German-
speaking lands, the connection of which with these islands
was always close.

In comparing the German and Gaelic tales there is one
incident which cannot, I think, but strike every unprejudiced

Eliduc and Little Snow- White. 41

observer as being more archaic in the Gaelic than in the
German version. I mean the mode of divination practised
by the jealous queen. In Schneewittchen and in most of
the continental variants she consults her mirror, in Gold-
tree a trout in a well. No competent judge but will say
that in the loth century, the period to which we have
inferentially carried back the original of Eliduc, the latter
is the more likely mode. Now in one of Grimm's variants
the jealous queen consults a dog, Spiegel by name. Which
is the more likely, that the mirror of several versions arose
from a misunderstanding of the name of the divining animal,
or that one narrator altered mirror to dog ? In any case
the magic fish of knowledge (generally a salmon) is promi-
nent in Gaelic myth. The fullest English account is that
of O'Curry {^Manners attd Customs, ii, 142 et seq.), para-
phrasing the Shannon legend found in the Dindsenchas, a
topographico-mythical poem of the loth-iith century,
other early nth century references to the myth being also
given. Later use of this mythic idea abounds in Gaelic
legend. It is surely more sensible, as well as more scien-
tific, to refer the trout in the well of the Gaelic folk-tale to
this old Gaelic mythic conception, rather than to suppose
that a Gaelic story-teller, having heard a version of Schnee-
wittchen, substituted a trout for a mirror. Is it not, on
the contrary, evident that the clear surface of the well
led by a natural transition to the mirror of the German
versions ?

What are the principal elements in the hypothetical
original of Eliduc and of the Gaelic tales? — the situation
of the hero between the two heroines, the death-in-life
condition of one heroine brought about by the " villain".
Now somewhat similar elements, though differently com-
bined, are to be found in one of the oldest Irish hero-tales
— the Sick Bed of Cuchulainn. The text is found in the
Leabhar na h' Uidhre (Z U.), and professes to be transcribed
from an older MS., the Yellow Book of Slam. Like
most of the sagas in LU., it is, as Professor Zimmer

42 Eliduc and Little Sfiozu-Wkite.

has convincingly shown, an attempt to harmonise different
and somewhat conflicting versions. As our present text
was compiled in the early nth century, the versions upon
which it is based must be much older. Indeed, there is.
little reason to doubt that the elements of the story belong
to the oldest stratum of Irish fancy, and that these ele-
ments were combined, much as we find them in the nth
century text, not later than the 7th century. In this
saga Cuchulainn is loved by a queen of Faery, Fand..
She comes to earth in bird-guise, and is wounded by the
hero. She throws him into a magic sleep, visits him, and
thrashes him to such purpose that for a year he lies on his.
couch, away from the court and all his friends, and can
speak to nobody. Healed by faery intervention, he visits
the Otherworld, and brings back Fand with him. The
jealousy of his mortal wife Emer is thereby aroused, and she
bitterly reproaches him. Fand thereupon returns to the
Otherworld, and Cuchulainn and Emer, to whom a magic
drink of forgetfulness is given, are left at peace with one
another.

Here, then, we have the husband and the two wives, and
the death-in-life trance of one of the chief actors in the
story. I suggest no connection, I do not for a moment
imply that we have before us two variants of the same
theme, differentiated by the fact that in the one the hero,,
in the other the heroine, undergoes the magic trance. I
merely point out that a story involving the same essential
elements as those of the prototype of Eliduc and Gold-tree
was one of the most famous of Gaelic legends. If the race:
could fashion the one story it could fashion the other.

Hitherto in my argument I have tacitly and implicitly
accepted the"transmissionist" postulate. This I take to be
that the similarity of folk-tale in modern Europe is to
be accounted for by the transmission from definite centres
within historic times of complete and well-rounded narra-
tives. Still, for argument's sake, taking my stand on this
platform, let me meet a possible objection arising from the

Eliduc and Little Snow-White. 43,

South-Italian variants of the Snow-White formula. As
we have seen, Basile is nearer than is Grimm to Gold-tree,
the assumed representative of the oldest type of the nar-
rative. But Italy is farther from Gaeldom than is Low
Germany ! So the transmissionist may urge. Now, para-
doxical as the statement may appear, Italy is closer to
Celtdom than is Germany. The " salt estranging sea" is
often a surer link than the land. In the loth and nth
centuries the Norman adventurers overran and founded king-
doms in Sicily and Southern Italy. But Norman and Breton
were closely allied ; Breton chiefs and soldiers accompanied
the descendants of the Vikings. And thus it comes about
that in the early 12th century we find numerous traces of the
Arthurian romance throughout the Italian peninsula in the
shape of personal names taken from the Romance cycle;
thus it is that a late 12th century writer localises Avalon
near Mount Etna. All the contentions I have striven to
establish are, if the transmissionists knew it, in favour of
their thesis, if they will only give up the main article of
their creed, viz., that stories can be invented nowhere save
in the East, and that every example of transmission must
be from East to West. The present investigation does
not affect the arguments for or against the transmission
theory per se, and therefore I shall not pause to expound
my reasons for believing that that theory only accounts for
a very few of the problems of folk-lore. I am quite satis-
fied if I can show that even the straitest partisan of that
theory may accept my proof without its being necessary for
him to revise all the articles of his creed.

Before drawing what are, I think, the legitimate con-
clusions from the facts I have been considering, I should
like to say a few words about the polygamy incident which
induced Mr. Jacobs to write his note. I agree with him that
the tale as it stands would not be sufficient warrant for the
existence of polygamy in early Gaeldom. I may add that
the fact of that polygamy, which is as thoroughly established
as anything can well be, would not in itself be a sufficient.

44 Eliduc and Little Snow-White.

warrant for the Gaelic origin of the folk-tale. But we
know that polygamy was a Gaelic practice, and we have a
tale in which it appears, and which professes to be Gaelic,
a profession supported by a number of other considerations.
Surely we are entitled, under these circumstances, to use
the incident as evidence both of the Gaelic origin of the
tale and of the survival of the practice in the folk-mind
long after it had vanished from the social system.

With regard to the evidence for polygamy among the
early Gaels I will cite but one instance, and this I cite not
because there is the slightest necessity to advance proof
for a custom as well established historically as that of trial
by jury in modern England, but because the instance itself
is of great interest to folk-lorists, and because it throws a
most curious light upon early Irish Christianity. I allude
to the birth-story of Aed Slane, high king of Ireland from
594 to 600 according to the Four Masters. The story
runs thus :

Once upon a time there was a great gathering of Gaels
in Tailtin. And the king, Diarmaid, son of Fergus
Cerbel, was there with his two wives, Mairend the Bald
and Mugain of Munster. Now Mugain was jealous of
Mairend, and egged on a satirist to make her rival remove
the golden crown wherewith the bald one hid her shame.
So the satirist craved a boon of the queen, and being gain-
said, tore the crown from her head. " God and (St.) Ciaran
be my help !" cried out the queen, and before a glance could
be cast at her, behold the long, fine wavy golden locks were
over the ford of her shoulders, such was the marvellous
might of Ciaran. Then, turning to her rival, Mairend said,
" Mayst thou suffer shame for this in the presence of the
men of Ireland." Thereafter Mugain became barren, and
she was sad, because the king was minded to put her away,
and because all the other wives of Diarmaid were fruitful.
So she sought help of (St.) Finden, and the cleric blessed
water and gave her to drink, and she conceived. Suffice
to say that the Saint's intervention was at first by no

Eliduc and Little Snow-Wkite. 45

means successful ; first a lamb, and then a silver trout were
born, but finally Aed Slane, and he was the chief man of
his day in Ireland.

The story has come down to us in two forms : {a) a prose
text, which I have abridged above ; {b) a poem by Flann
Manistrech, who died in 1056 ; this merely gives the birth-
story, omitting the rivalry between the two queens. The
prose story as we have it mentions the poem, and would thus
seem to be later than it ; but Mr. Whitley Stokes tells me
that its language is, if anything, somewhat older, although
it cannot be dated much before the beginning of the nth
century. Prose and verse would thus seem to be inde-
pendent versions connected in L U. by the paragraph con-
cerning Flann's poem. The polygamy and the intervention
of the two saints certainly picture manners and feeling as old,
to say the least, as the alleged date of the personages. In
the poem the animal births are interpreted in a Christian
sense, both lamb and fish being symbols of Christ. See-
ing, however, that we have to do with a story of rivalry
and jealousy, it is allowable to compare the incident with
the one, so frequent in folk-tales, in which the queen is
accused by an enemy of giving birth to an animal, and is
in consequence driven away by her husband. It is even
allowable to speculate whether this form, the normal one,
of the incident is not secondary, whether originally the
enemy did not actually by the power of magic cause the
offspring of the heroine to be animal instead of human.
But such speculations would, I admit, at present be rather
en fair.

The miraculous growth of hair recalls at once the Godiva
legend. Here, there can be little doubt, the present form
of the story is not the original one. The point must have
been that the countess rode naked, and that the covering
of hair was a miraculous protection against unholy curio-
sity. A similar conception is almost a commonplace in
early Christian legend. The most familiar, as well as the
oldest form known, is that found in the Acts of St. Agnes.

46 Eliduc and Little Snow- White.

Here the hair covers the whole body. As this narrative
is due to St. Ambrose, and as St. Agnes is mentioned in the
nth century Irish Martyrology known as the Calendar
of Oengtis, it is probable that the legend was known to
the early Irish Church, and if so, it is possible that the
incident in our tale may be due to it.^ On the other hand,
Mr. Whitley Stokes tells me that he knows no other
example of the incident in Irish literature. Considering,
too, the pride taken by the Gaulish chieftains in the beauty
and length of their hair, as testified to by classical writers ;
considering, moreover, the Irish rule which forbade the
kingly throne to anyone possessed of a personal blemish, it
seems to me quite as likely that the Mairend-Mugain story,
if not founded on fact, is the outcome of Irish invention,
as that it is a loan from the St. Agnes legend. The point
deserves attention from those familiar with Irish as well as
with continental hagiology.

I do not wish to labour the argument further. There
can, I think, be no reasonable doubt that I have suffici-
ently proved my contention, and that the Gaelic tale of
Gold-tree and Silver-tree, collected in North Scotland
within the last few years, must be looked upon as the re-
presentative of a tale which flourished in the loth century,
a literary offshoot of which was the lai of Eliduc, and
which viay have been carried by Breton minstrels to
Southern Italy, by Danish Vikings to North Germany,
and there have given rise to the Schneewittchen group of
stories. I am not concerned at present to prove or disprove
this last contention. I may point out, however, that the
German tale contains elements, such as the seven dwarfs,
which have all the appearance of great antiquity, and that
the material and social conditions postulated by the tale
must have existed in German as well as in Celtic lands.
I trust some member of the Society with more leisure than

^ Prudentius tells the story of St. Eulalia ; late hagiologists, of St.
Mary the Egyptian, for which the oldest Acts of that saint give no
■warrant.

Eliduc and Little Snow-White. 47

T can command will carefully analyse and compare all
known versions of this folk-tale group, and will essay to
determine whether the facts compel us to assume radiation
from a particular centre within historic times, or allow us
to regard the tale as common property of the various
Aryan races.

In any case we have here a most beautiful illustration of
the theory I have always urged, viz., that the folk-tale as
collected in modern Europe is substantially older than the
romances which were written down in the Middle Ages ;
that so far from being abridged and debased derivations
from the romances, they are, in the main, derived from the
tales upon which those romances were based ; that there
existed among the various Aryan-speaking races, as far
back as we can trace, a stock of mythic narratives which
have lived on to the present day.

No one at all familiar, I will not say with the methods
of folk-lore research — these methods are and must be those
of historical criticism generally — but with the facts dis-
closed by that research, but readily admits that, whilst we
must always take the earliest version as the starting-point of
investigation we must steel ourselves against the presump-
tion that this earliest version is necessarily the starting-
point of the series of phenomena we are investigating. It
may be so, but more frequently it is not. This view is,
however, apparently unintelligible to those distinguished
students of history or literary history who sometimes
do folk-lorists the honour of noticing them, and is held by
them to be the result of the uncritical spirit which per-
vades all folk-lore study. The boot is really on the other
leg. It is the non-folk-lorist who is uncritical in applying
critical canons, perfectly sound it may be in his own line of
study, to another with which he is not familiar, and to
which they are not legitimately applicable. It is not often,
however, that a principle so important to folk-lore research
as that of the capacity of contemporary tradition to pre-
serve facts which are, using the word in a strict sense, pre-

48 Eliduc and Little Snow- White.

historic, can be proved. Hence the value of the instance I
have just examined.

Another lesson that may be learnt from this instance is
the invalidity of an argument dear to many students of
history, the argument ex silentio. I believe that even in
historical investigation proper a most unwarranted use is
often made of this argument ; in folk-lore research it
should never be used save with the utmost caution. Could
we apply a universal phonograph to the entirety of living
oral tradition we should even then be far from justified in
dogmatising about what may or may not have taken place
formerly. But, as every folk-lorist well knows, it is but
fragments of tradition that have been recorded and pub-
lished. Every now and then a fresh fragment comes to
light, and, like the Gaelic mdrcJien of Gold-tree, opens
up new lines of investigation, and compels us to seek in
new directions for the solution of our problems.

Note. — The birth-story of Aed Slane has been edited and translated
by Professor Windisch {Ber. d. phil.-hist. Classe d. Kg. Sachs. Ges. d.
JViss., 1884). The best edition of Marie's /ais is that of K. Warnke
(1885), with storiological notes by D. R. Kohler. For those un-
familiar with old French, Roquefort's edition of Marie's works, with,
modern French version, may be recommended.

Alfred Nutt.

MAGIC SONGS OF THE FINNS.
IV.

XXXIV. — Origin of the Earth -Goblin (Skin
Eruption).^

{a.)

A RASH iinaahijieji) is from the earth by birth, a red
spot upon the skin is from the courtyard, from the
animosity of the earth or of the water, or from hidden
poison of a frog. From this the cunning one has been
brought forth, the deceitful one of the earth has been
bred ; although I do not the least know how it should have
come here, how it should have broken out on a human
skin, on the body of a woman's son ; to burn it like fire, to
scorch it like flame, or as a * snail' or a ' worm', or as
some other earth-goblin would do. A worm has short
legs, an earth-goblin's are still shorter. If thou hast risen
from the earth, then I conjure thee into the earth. If,
feeble one, thou hast issued from water, then tumble into
the water. If thou hast issued from fire, then plunge into
the fire. When thou art departing carry away thine ani-
mosity, take away thine own mischief

A water Hiisi rowed along, a young creature kept see-
sawing in a copper boat with tin oars. He reached land

* Maahinen, see Gastrin, Vorlesiingen iiber d. Finn. Mythologies, p.
169. The remainder of these magic songs will be given in prose.
vVords in single inverted commas are epithets, and not to he taken
quite literally.

VOL. III. E

50 Magic Songs of the Finns.

like a strawberry/ tumbled down like a lump of wheaten
dough. Hence arose the breed of earth-goblins, hence
hast thou, deceitful wretch, originated. Now I conjure
thee away. There is no place for thee here ; thy place,
earth-goblin, is in the earth ; thy place, water-devil, is in.
the water.

XXXV. — Origin of Stitch and Pleurisy.
{a)

Formerly a lovely oak grew, an incomparable shoot shot
up. It grew extremely high, sought to touch the sky with
its head, hindered the clouds from moving, the fleecy
clouds from scudding, and darkened half the sun, be-
dimmed a third of the earth.

The young men deliberate, the middle-aged ponder how
they can live without the moon, how exist without the sun
in these wretched borderlands, these miserable northern
lands.

They needed someone to fell, to lay low the mischievous
oak. They searched and found none, they sought and
discovered no one. Among this people in our land, among
the fully-grown, among the crowd of men, there was none
to lay low the mischievous oak, to fell the straight and
lofty tree.

A swarthy fellow emerged from the sea, a full-grown
man from the surge, neither great nor small, but a full-
grown man of medium size, as tall as a straightened
thumb \yar. as thick as a summer gadfly], the height of
three fingers \y. of an ox-hoof] ; on his shoulder lay an
ornamented axe with an ornamented haft ; on his head he
wore a tall hat of flagstone, on his feet shoes of stone.
Well, that man had a mind to fell the oak, to shatter the
hellish {i-utwion) tree.^

1 Red in the face like a strawberry from the exertion, but with
allusion to the redness of rash and other such skin-diseases.

2 See note 4, Folk-Lore, i, No. 3, p. 339.

Magic So7igs of the Finns. • 51

He advances with tripping gait, approaches with de-
liberate steps, advanced to the foot of the tree to break
down the huge oak. He struck the tree with his axe, dealt
it a blow with its level edge. He struck once, twice, and a
third time struck a blow. Fire spirted from the axe, flame
escaped from the oak.

Some chips of the tree whirled down suddenly, some
fragments suddenly came wobbling down upon a nameless
meadow, upon a land without a knoll. Other chips
scattered, widely dispersed themselves upon the clear and
open sea, upon the wide and open main.

Just at the third stroke he cut through the oak, broke the
hellish tree, suddenly overturned the thriving tree, so that
the root-end gaped towards the east and the branching
head fell towards the west across the Pohjola river to serve
as an eternal bridge for any traveller to pass to gloomy
Pohjola.

A chip that had wobbled down, that had been flung on
the waters of the sea, upon the clear and open main, upon
the illimitable waves, did the wind rock to and fro, did the
restless ocean toss about. A wave wafted it ashore, the
breakers of the sea steered it into a nameless bay, into one
unknown by name, where the Hiisi folk reside, where the
evil people hold their sales.

Hiisi's iron-toothed dog, that ever runs along the shore,
chanced to be coursing on the beach, making the gravel
rattle. He spied the chip in the waves, snapped it up and
carried it to a maiden's hands, to the finger-tips of Hiisi's
damsel.

The maiden looks at it, turns it over, and pronounced
the following words : " Something might come of it if it
were in the smithy of a smith, in the hands of a craftsman.
From it a wizard might get arrows, an archer many in-
struments."

A fiend chanced to overhear, an evil one to observe her.
The evil one carried the chip to a smithy, makes arrows,
prepares blunt-headed arrows of it to become stitch and

E 2

52 Magic Songs of the Finns.

pleurisy in men, sudden sickness in horses, ' sharp spikes
in cattle.

The devil makes arrows, sharpens spikes inside a steely
mountain, a rock of iron. He made a little pile of shafts,
a heap of heavy arrows inside a doorless, windowless
smithy. He makes the heads of steel, turns the shafts out
of wood from a bough of the ' fiery' oak, from a sharp spike
of the red^ tree. He smoothed his arrows and feathered
them with the small plumes of a swallow, with the tail-
feathers of a brindled bird. Whence did he get the bind-
ing thread ? He obtained the binding thread from the
locks of Hiisi's damsel, from the hair of a melancholy
creature. After feathering the arrows, with what were they
encrusted ? With the poison of a viper, with the venom of
a black snake. Then he selected his best bow and attached
a string to it made from a wanton stallion's tail, from the
hair of a full-grown animal.

He seized the ' fiery' bow, stretched the * fiery' cross-
bow against his left knee, under his right foot. He took
the swiftest arrow, selected the best shaft, straightened the
' fiery' crossbow against his right shoulder, and shot the
first arrow aloft above his head into the azure sky, into a
long bank of cloud. The sky was like to split, the aerial
vault to break, portions of the air to rend, the aerial canopy
to bend at the anguish caused by the ' fiery' arrow, by
the sharp spike of Aijo's son. The arrow receded where
naught was ever heard of it again.

Then he shot a second arrow into the earth below his
feet. The earth was like to go to Mana \y. to ignite], the
hills to powder into mould, the sandy ridges to split, the
sandy heaths to break in two from the anguish caused by
the * fiery' arrow, from the burning pain caused by the red
wood. That arrow constantly receded where naught was
ever heard of it again.

1 Further on, in § (<:), the oak is called the murderous tree, so pos-
sibly ' red' means the blood-stained tree, alluding to the bloody work
effected by the arrows made from it. ' Fiery' = terrible.

Magic Songs of the Finns. 53

Immediately he shot a third, a final and malignant arrow,
across land and swamp, across deep gloomy forests against
a steely \y. silver] mountain, against an iron \y. stony]
rock. The arrow rebounded from the stone, recoiled
against the rock, and entered a human skin, the body of a
wretched man.

Such a shaft may be extricated, such an arrow with-
drawn always by virtue of the word of God, through the
Lord's grace.

Of old a lovely oak grew, a flourishing sapling uprose
on the shoulder of a sandy ridge, on the crest of a golden
hillock. Its boughs were somewhat bushy, its foliage
somewhat ample. Its branching head reached the sky, its
leafy boughs spread through the air, concealed the rays of
the sun, obscured the rays of the moon, prevented the
Great Bear from stretching and the stars of heaven from
moving.

A shiver comes over cattle, a horror over fish in the water,
a strangeness over birds of the air, and weariness over
human beings, for the dear sun no longer shines, nor does
the moonshine diffuse light upon these wretched ones,
these unfortunates.

They searched for a man, sought for such an one that
could break down the oak, fell the splendid lofty tree,
prostrate the lively tree, clear away the hellish {rutimon)
tree. None was found to clear away, to smash the brittle
tree to bits. There was no strong doughty man in our own
land, in pleasant Finland, in beautiful Karelia to do this ;
nor did one come from further afield, from daring Sweden,
from weak Russia, nor from the disputed ground of this
realm, that could fell the oak, fracture the hellish tree,
prostrate the hundred-headed oak.

A \y. small, v. black, v. old, v. iron] man emerged from
the sea, a full-grown man uprose from the waves. He was
not very large nor very small ; his height was quarter-ell

54 Magic Songs of the Finns.

\v. an ell], a woman's span ; he could lie down under a bowl,
stand under a sieve. His hair reached down behind to his
heels, his beard descended in front to his knees. On his
nape was an iron hat, on his feet were iron boots, on his
arms were iron sleeves, on his mitts was iron embroidery ;
an iron belt begirt his waist, behind the belt was an iron
axe provided with an iron haft, at the end of which was an
iron knob.

He sharpens his axe, whetted its level edge on a rock of
iron, on a mountain tipped with steel, on five Esthonian
whetstones, on six whetstones, on the sides of seven hones,
on eight surfaces ; by night he grinds the axe, by day he
fashions the haft.

By degrees the axe became sharpened, the haft was
gradually fashioned. Already a full-grown man had be-
come full grown, the man had begun to be a man. His
foot moves proudly on the ground, his head touches the
clouds, the bristles of his beard shone like a leafy grove
upon a slope, his hair shook about like a clump of pines
upon a hill.

He advances with tripping step, approaches with un-
steady gait, clad in wide breeches, a fathom wide at the
foot, one-and-half at the knee, and two fathoms at the
hips. Once and again he stepped, making an effort to
approach the oak. One foot he stamped down upon a spot
of yielding sand, with the other he trod upon the liver-
coloured earth. Already with the third stride he reached
the roots of the oak, the barbs and endless torments of the
red tree.

He struck firmly with his level-edged axe against the
oak ; from the tree's side a chip flew off, an outside chip
splintered off which the wind carried to the great open sea
to serve as a boat for Vainamoinen, as wood for the singer's
skiff. Once and again he struck a blow, nor was it long
before he felled the oak tree to the ground with its crown
towards the south, the root-end towards the north-east
inclining due north.

Magic Songs of the Finns. 55

He contemplates the chips on the spot where the red
tree was felled, where the wide spreading oak lay, and thus
expressed himself in words : " One might get useful wood
from these branches of the level-headed oak. Whoever
takes a branch has obtained eternal luck, whoever severs a
(heavy bough has severed an eternal power to inspire love,
whoever breaks off a topmost branch has broken off eternal
magic skill."

The chips that had scattered, the splinters that fell in
such a way as to be drifted about on the clear open main,
were driven by a wave, were tossed by the ocean-swell,
were jolted by a gust of wind, were floated ashore by the
water to the end of a long promontory \y. to Tuoni's black
river] to the beach of an evil pagan.

Hiisi's tiny little lass, a woman of fair complexion, was
Avashing dirty linen, besprinkling ragged clouts at the end
of a long gangway, on the top of a great landing-stage.
She seized the chips, split them into splinters, cut them
into chips for cow-litter, gathered them into her wallet,
carried them in her long thonged wallet to the courtyard
at home. Here she snatched up the chips in her pouch
and upsets them about the house.

Three of her brothers are at home, who interrogate her
about this : " What might a wizard get from these, what
would an €i{-sm\\kv {Keito) hammer out?" The maiden
thus expressed herself: "A craftsman will get something,
a man of skill will forge something, a wizard will obtain
wood for arrows, Lempo will get leaf-headed spears and
Sudden Death pleurisies."

Hiisi \y. the devil] chanced to overhear, an evil one to
observe this. He sent his son to a smithy to hammer out
arrowheads, to forge spears. The laddie went to the
smithy, makes arrows, hammers out blunt arrowheads,
prepared a little pile of bolts, a heap of heavy arrows. He
forged a dozen pikes, made a bundle of spears from the
branches of the ' fiery' oak, from the hard spikes of the
red tree. He made them neither great nor small, he made

56 Magic Songs of the Finns.

the spears of medium size, with which he stabbed a hundred
men, kept pricking a thousand.

The devil took up his pricking-tools, Keito seized the
spear, kept brandishing his spears, launched angrily his
sharp spikes, which come as stitch and pleurisy to men, as
sudden sickness to kine. Hiisi cares nothing where he has
shot his arrows, whether into a beast with horns, or into a
neighing horse, or else into a human skin, into the body of
a woman's son.

Formerly a great oak grew, a sapling without a blemish
sprang up. The oak was of an evil sort, with its broad
head it hid the sun, encompassed the moon with its
foliage, the Great Bear with its branches.

To live without light is hard and wearisome for human
beings, when the sun never shines, when there is no moon-
shine. No man, no mother's son came forward of the
rising generation, or indeed of the old men, that could fell
the oak, could break down the murderous tree. There
was none in our native land, in these wretched border-
lands between the two Karelias, a land disputed by three
kingdoms.

They made a search through the country in five parishes,
in six church districts. But as no one was found they
made inquiry in heaven. An old man came from heaven
to all appearance fit. His chest was a fathom wide, the
hat he wore was a fathom wide, the drawers upon his legs
were two fathoms wide. On his shoulder rested a golden
axe with a golden handle, at the end of which was a silver
knob.

He looks about him, turning here and there. With one
foot he stepped to the edge of a willow-bush, with the other
he advanced to the root of the sappy oak. He hacked
the sappy oak, kept slashing at the level-topped tree,
strikes off the top eastwards, casts the root-end north-
westwards. Every chip of it that he cut off became
a water-lily leaf, every branch that he strewed around got

Magic Songs of the Finns. 57

lost in the sea, to be drifted by waves, dashed about by
the breakers.

A cur dog of the shore appeared, one that used to run
by the riverside. It ran from stone to stone, it sprang
from one fir branch to another, saw something black upon
the sea, picked it up, and gave it into an elf-smith's {Keito)
hands, into the fingers of a hideous man. The elf-smith
grasped it in his hands, looked at it, turned it^over : " Why,
arrows might be made of this, blunt-headed arrows might
be fashioned."

He smoothed a pile of shafts, a heap of triply-plumed
arrows out of what had been broken off the oak, had been
splintered off the brittle tree. Each one that he finished
his sons feathered with the tiny plumes of a bullfinch,
with the feathers of a sparrow's wing, with the bristles of
a boar, with the shaggy down of a spider.

The evil one has three sons, one a cripple, the second lame,
and the third stone-blind. The cripple strings the bow, the
lame one holds the arrows, the stone-blind one shoots. The
cripple strung the bow and gave it into the archer's hand.
The stone-blind archer makes trial of his arrows near
swamps and solid ground, near long farmyards. He shot
a singly-feathered arrow aloft into the sky, into the oozy
clouds, into the swirling, fleecy clouds. The sky shattered
into holes, the atmosphere into apertures. He himself
uttered these words : " The arrow has whizzed somewhere
whence it will never return, nor is that by any means
specially desired."

He shot a doubly-feathered arrow into the ground below
his feet. The earth below suddenly splits, its mould
instantaneously fissures, all at once strong boulder-stones
give a crash, and stones upon the shore rend. The arrow
whizzed somewhere whence it will never return.

He shot a triply-feathered arrow at the hill of Pohjola
\v. Hiitola], against the lofty mountain, against the wooded
\v. iron] hill. He shot so that it deflected from the stone,
glanced sideways off the rock, rebounded from the stone.

58 Magic Songs of the Finns.

recoiled from the rock. Then it wanted to strike animals,
to enter a human skin, the body of a woman's son ; but
there is no place for it there whence it may return.

A ' fiery' oak grew on a ' fiery' plain. A boy came
from Pohjola, a full-grown man from the cold village,
trailing behind a small hand-sledge on which lies a little
.axe with a haft an ell long, with an edge a span high ; the
edge is new, the haft old. On his hands he wears new
gloves worked with old embroidery. With his hands he
began to batter the ' fiery' tree, to smash the ' sparkling'
•oak. He hewed it into splinters, cut it into chips, into
litter for cows. A wind carried them to sea to be drifted
by the sea waves to Tuoni's dark river, to the under-
lake of Manala. From them a wizard gets arrows, a devil
pricking instruments.

The devil manufactures arrows, Lempo leaf-headed spears
from branches of the ' fiery' oak, from splinters of the evil
tree in a doorless, windowless smithy. An arrow from the
devil, a leaf-headed spear from Lempo whizzed into a
wretched human being's skin, into the body of one born of
a woman.

(^■)

Udutar (daughter of Mist), Nature's daughter, Terhetar
(d. of Fog), the sharp girl sifted mist with a sieve, kept
scattering fog at the end of a misty promontory, at the
extremity of a foggy island ; from which circumstance
burning pains have their origin, burning pains and pleurisies,
in a naked skin, in a body racked with pain.

XXXVI. — Swelling on the Neck.

Strange swelling ! Lempo's lump ! I know your family,
from what, excrescence ! you originated, from what, horror
•of the land ! you were bred, out of what, ' whorl of Lempo !'
you were spun, out of what, ball of Lempo ! you swelled

Magic Songs of the Finns. 59

up on the place where breath is breathed, on the narrow
muscles of the neck. Your family is from the mist/ your
mother is from the mist, your father from the mist, your
ancestor is from it, your five brothers are there, the six
•daughters of your godfather, your paternal uncle's seven
children. Pray remove yourself to nameless meadows
unknown by name.

XXXVII. — The Origin of the Tooth-Worm.

(^.)

You fidgety, globular being ! the size of a seed of flax,
looking like a flax-seed, that destroys the teeth, keeps
•cutting the jaw-bones, I know, indeed, your family, and all
your up-bringing. A black [i-. iron] man emerged from
the sea, from the waves uprose a full-grown man, the
height of a straightened thumb, the stature of a man's
finger. A single hair comes wafted by the wind. A beard
:grew from the hair, and on the beard was engendered
a worm. Owing to this the low wretch came, the evil
pagan removed into the beloved jaw-bones, the dearly-
cherished teeth, to devour and gnaw, to crunch, rasp, and
play havoc with the jaws, and hack the teeth.

There now is your family, there is your likeness.

{b.)

A furious old quean \ik Vainamoinen's old wife], the
stout woman Luonnotar [t-. sturdy old Vainamoinen], set
to work to sweep the sea, to mop the billows with a broom,
wearing on her head a textile of sparks, with a cloak of
foam over her shoulders. She swept a whole day, swept
the next day, forthwith swept a third whole day. The
refuse gathered in her broom, in her copper besom. She
was anxious to remove it, so she raised the besom from
the waves, made the copper handle twirl high above her
1 Or, " from Sumu'', regarding it as a place-name.

6o Magic Songs of the Finns.

head. The refuse stuck fast in the besom, so she seized it
with her teeth, whereupon an aching pain seized her teeth,
a full-grown devil her jaw. Hence that evil one \y. can-
nibal] was bred, that biter of bone came to close quarters,
that keeps rustling in the jaw-bone, that hacks the teeth,
digs into the whole head, and keeps gnawing at the members.

The stout woman Luonnotar, the furious old quean,
went to find a broom in a leafy grove, to get material for
a besom in a copse. A pin fell from her bosom, a copper
pin dropped suddenly, fell rustling into the withered grass,
with a jingling noise into the hay. Hence the worm was
bred, hence in the dearly-cherished teeth, in the unfortu-
nate cheek-bones originated Tuoni's grub that eats bone,
bites flesh, and plays havoc with the teeth.

id.)
A blind girl of Pohjola, Vainamoinen's old servant-girl,
was dusting his small chamber, was sweeping the floor,
when a piece of dirt fell from the broom, a twig snapt off
the besom upon the swept floor, upon the dusted boards,
near the seams of the planks. Hence the devourer origin-
ated, hence the gnawer was bred which shot itself into
a mouth, then slid down upon the tongue and stumbled
forwards to the teeth, in order to feed upon the blood-
filled flesh, to rack with pain the blood-filled bones.

The evil house-mistress, Syojatar, iron's old house-mother,
Rakehetar (Hailstone's daughter), pulverised grains of iron,
hammered steel points upon an iron rock in an alder-wood
mortar with a pestle of alder-wood in a room built of
alder-wood. She sifted what she had pounded, and gobbled
up those 'groats' of hers. Bits went astray among the
teeth and settled themselves in the gums, in order to hack
the teeth, to rack the jaw-bones with pain.

Magic Songs of the Finns. 6i

A wee man emerged from the sea with a tiny axe in
his hand and a little billhook under his arm. He encoun-
tered an oak upon the path, a gigantic tree upon the
shore. He struck the tree with his axe, dealt it a blow
with the level edge. A chip stuck very firmly to the axe.
With tooth and nail he tried to detach it. Then the
obstruction stuck in his mouth, an aching pain took pos-
session of his teeth, a stench diffused itself in his jaws.
Hence the great devourer, the evil hacker of the teeth
originated.

A fox carried off and crunched a fragment of bone as
he ran along between two rocks, along the slopes of five
mountains. Hence, indeed, the worm was bred, hence
originated Tuoni's grub, that spread itself as far as the
jaws, and played havoc with the teeth.

XXXVIII. — The Origin of Cancer and White
Swellings.

Cancer was born in Cottage Creek, at the mouth of the
Jordan river. Harlots rinsed their linen caps at the mouth
of the Jordan. Hence, then, a cancer was bred, hence the
bone-biter made its appearance that bites bone, eats flesh,
sucks blood raw without its being cooked in a pot, with-
out its being heated in a copper. The ' dog' set off to
run about, the ' worm' began to crawl ; went to corrupt
bone, to macerate flesh, to make it suppurate, to cause it
to swell in the shape of boils and white swellings.

XXXIX. — The Origin of Ale.

The origin of ale is known, the first beginning of drink
is guessed. The origin of ale is from barley, of the noble

62 Magic Songs of the Finns.

drink from hops, though it is not produced without water
nor yet without fire.

Hops, the son of Boisterous {Remunen), was poked, was
ploughed into the ground as a small snake, as an ant^ was
thrown down at the side of the well of Kaleva, on the un-
ploughed edge of Osmo's field. From it a young shoot
sprang up, a green tendril uprose, which mounted into
a little tree and stretched towards its head.

Osmo's \z>. Luck's] old man sowed barley at the end of
Osmo's field. The barley grew splendidly, sprouted most
perfectly at the end of Osmo's new field, in the cleared
land of the son of Kaleva.

Osmotar the brewer of ale, the woman that brews small
beer, took up six grains of barley, seven clusters of hops
eight ladlesful of water, put a pot on the fire, and brought
the brew to boiling-point. She let the barley ale simmer
for a whole summer day. She managed to boil the ale,,
but could not get it to ferment.

She reflects and turns over in her mind what she might
add to make the ale ferment, to make the small beer
work. She saw wild mustard in the ground, rubbed it
with both palms, grated it with both hands against her
thighs, and rubbed out a golden-breasted martin.

When she obtained it, she exclaimed : " My little martin !
my pet ! go where I command, into the gloomy wilds of
a forest where mares are wont to fight, where stallions
battle savagely. In your hands let their froth drip, with
your hands collect their lather to serve as ferment for the
ale, as yeast to make the small beer work."

Thus advised, the obedient martin hurried ofif at full
speed, soon had run a long distance, to the gloomy wilds of
a forest where mares are wont to fight, where stallions
battle savagely. Froth dripped from a mare's mouth,,
slaver from a stallion's muzzle, which it brought to the
woman's hand, to the shoulder of Osmotar.

^ I.e., possessing the venomous or pungent qualities of a snake of
of an ant.

Magic Songs of the Finns. 65.

The woman upset it into her small beer, Osmotar into
her ale. The ale became depraved, made men deficient of
sense, caused the half-witted to brawl, the fools to play the
fool, the children to cry, and other folk to grieve.

The lovely maiden Kalevatar, a girl with neat fingers^.
brisk in her movements, ever light of foot, was moving over
a seam of the planks, dancing about on the centre of the
floor, when she saw a leaf upon the floor and picked it up.
She looks at it, turns it over : " What would come of this,
in the hands of a lovely woman, in the fingers of a kindly
maiden ? "

She placed it in a woman's hands, in the fingers of a
kindly miaiden. The woman rubbed it with both her'
hands against her thighs, and thereby a bee was born.
The bee, the lively bird, flew away at full speed, soon flew
a long distance, quickly reduced the intervening space, to
an island in the open main, to a skerry in the sea, to a.
honey-dripping meadow, to the margin of a honeyed
field. A short interval elapsed, a very little time slipped by,,
already it returns buzzing, making a mighty fuss, brought
virgin honey on its wing, carried honey under its cloak,,
which it placed in the woman's hand, in the fingers of the
kindly maiden.

Osmotar thrust it into her ale, the woman into her small
beer. Then the new drink began to rise, the ruddy ale
to work in the new wooden vat, in the two-handled tub of
birch. The ale, the extract to be drunk by men, was ready
for use.

Hops shouted from a tree ; water whispered from a
stream ; barley from the edge of a ploughed field : " When
shall we get together, when unite one with the other, at the
feast of All-hallows {Kekri), or at Yule, or not till Easter-
tide ? 'Tis tedious living alone, 'tis pleasanter in twos and
threes."

The kindly maiden, the girl of Pohja [v. Osmotar the

64 Magic Songs of the Finns.

brewer of ale], reflects and ponders : " What would happen
were I to bring them together and unite them, causing each
one to meet the others ? "

A redstart sang from a tree : " A noble drink would be
obtained, good ale would result from them in the hands of
a skilful maker, one that rightly understands."

The kindly maiden, the girl of Pohja, plucks clusters of
hops, gathered grains of barley, drew water from the eddy
of a stream. These she united, intermingled one with the
other, and intended to brew in a new two-handled tub of
birch. Stones were heated for a month, a forest of trees
was burnt, water was boiled a whole summer \y. a sea of
water was boiled], ale was brewed for a whole winter. A
wagtail \v. titmouse] fetched water, a bee brought honey to
make the new drink ferment. Owing to that the new drink
fermented in the two-handled tub of birch, foamed up to a
level with the handles, bubbled above the rim, was like to
splutter on the ground, to fall upon the floor. Hence the
violent one was known, was judged, was supposed at the
proper time to pour upon the earth for the benefit of the
earth before it became great.

The kindly maiden, the girl of Pohja, gave utterance to
words : " How unlucky I am ! alas my thoughtless deeds !
for 1 have brewed bad ale, have produced an intractable
small beer. It has swelled up to the handles, it inundates
the floor."

A redstart sang from a tree, a thrush from the eaves :
" It does not pertain to poor living, 'tis a drink that pertains
to good living, that should be emptied into tuns, trans-
ported into cellars in oaken barrels, in butts with copper
hoops."

Small Beer expressed himself cleverly, took up the word
and said : " 'Tis bad to live inside a half-tun behind a copper
tap. If you do not provide singers, do not invite merry
ones, I will spirt out foaming from the barrel, will escape
from the half-tun, will kick the half-tun into two, will bang
the bottom out with blows, will move to another farmhouse,

Magic Songs of the Finns. 65

to the neighbour's over the fence where people drink with
jollity and roar with merriment."

Such was the beginning and origin of ale. From what
did it obtain its good name, its famous reputation ? A cat
called out from the stove, a puss from the end of a bench
exclaimed : '* If this pertains to good living {Jiyvd-oloinen)
may its name be ale {olut)."

Hence ale obtained its name,^ its famous reputation, as
it pertained to good living, was a good drink for the tem-
perate, gave laughing mouths to women, a cheery mind to
men, caused the temperate to be merry, the boisterous to
stagger \y, fight].

The late Professer Ahlqvist- gives a Mordvin example
of " the origin of ale", which is short enough to tran-
scribe.

" Where does hops originate, where does hops grow ?
It originates in a damp spot, in a willow copse, its seed is a
white pearl. The wind blew, puffed it. Whither, whither
did it puff it ? To the bank of a river, into a cook-house
it puffed it, in the cook-house they are brewing ale. It
puffed it to the edge of a vat, where it began speaking with
the rye : ' Mother Rye, Mother Rye, allow us who are
speechless to begin to speak, us who do not fight to begin
to fight, us who do not dance to begin to dance.' "

XL. — The Origin of Brandy.

From what has brandy originated, from what has the
lovely drink grown ? Brandy has been brought forth, the
lovely drink has been produced from the beards of young

^ An example of popular etymology. The word for ale, olut, dimi-
nutive olonen, is erroneously supposed to be derived from olotnen,
living, existent.

' Muistelmia Matkoilta Vencijcilld, p. i66.

VOL. III. F

66 Magic Songs of the Finns.

barley, from the bristly heads of green corn, but it is not
produced without water, not yet without a raging fire.
Water caused it to be lively, fire made it raging.

John Abercromby.

( To be continued.)

GUARDIAN SPIRITS OF WELLS AND
LOCHS.

THE following beliefs regarding Guardian Spirits of
Wells and Lochs were collected in Strathdon and
Corgarff, Aberdeenshire, by the help of Mr. William Michie
Farmer, Coull of Newe, and Mr. James Farquharson,
Corgarff. Distance from libraries and want of books of
reference have prevented me from quoting similar beliefs
among other nations and tribes except in the very slightest
way. I have contented myself with merely stating the
beliefs.

Tobar-fuar-m6r, i.e., The Big Cold Well.

This well is situated at the bottom of a steep hill in a
fork between two small streams on the estate of Allargue,
Corgarff There are three springs that supply the water,
distant from each other about a yard. The well is circular,
with a diameter of about twelve feet. The sides are about
five or six feet deep, with an opening on the lower side
through which the water flows out.

The water running from these springs is of great virtue
in curing diseases — each spring curing a disease. One
spring cured blindness, another cured deafness, and the
third lameness. The springs were guarded by a Spirit
that lived under a large stone, called " The Kettle Stone",
which lay between two of the springs. No cure was
effected unless gold was presented to the Spirit, which she
placed in a kettle below the stone. Hence its name of
"Kettle Stone". If one tried to rob the Spirit, death, by
some terrible accident, soon followed. My informant,
James Farquharson, more than fifty years ago, when a lad

F 2

68 Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs.

resolved to remove the " Kettle Stone" from its position,
and so become possessor of the Spirit's gold. He accord-
ingly set out with a few companions, all provided with picks
and spades, to displace the stone. After a good deal of
hard labour the stone was moved from its site, but no
kettle-full of gold was found.

An old woman met the lads on their way to their homes,
and when she learnt what they had been doing she assured
them they would all die within a few weeks, and that a
terrible death would befall the ringleader.

TOBAR-NA-GLAS A COILLE, i.e., ThE WeLL IN THE

Grey Wood.

This well lies near the old military road, near the top of
the hill that divides the glen of Corgarff from Glengairn.
In a small knoll near it lived a spiteful Spirit that went by
the name of Duine-glase-beg, i.e., the Little Grey Man. He
was guardian of the well and watched over its water with
great care. Each one on taking a draught of water from it
had to drop into it a pin or other piece of metal. If this
was not done, and if at any time afterwards the same
person attempted to draw water from it, the Spirit resisted,
annoyed, and hunted the unfortunate till death by thirst
came. My informant has seen the bottom of the well strewed
with pins. Last autumn (1891), I gathered several pins
from it.

The Bride's Well.

This well was at one time the favourite resort of all brides
for miles around. On the evening before the marriage the
bride, accompanied by her maidens, went " atween the sun
an the sky" to it. The maidens bathed her feet and the upper
part of her body with water drawn from it. This bathing
ensured a family. The bride put into the well a few
crumbs of bread and cheese, to keep her children from ever
being in want.

Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs. 69

ToBAR Vacher.

This is a fine well, dedicated to St. Machar, near the
present farm of Corriehoul, Corgarff, Strathdon. A Roman
Catholic chapel was at one time near it, and the present
graveyard occupies the site of the chapel. This well was
renowned for the cures it wrought in more than one kind
of disease. To secure a cure the ailing one had to leave a
silver coin in it. Once there was a famine in the district,
and not a few were dying of hunger. The priest's house
stood not far from the well. One day, during the famine, his
housekeeper came to him and told him that their stock of
food was exhausted, and that there was no more to be got
in the district. The priest left the house, went to the well,
and cried to St. Machar for help. On his return he told the
servant to go to the well the next morning at sunrise, walk
three times round it, in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, without looking into it, and draw from it a
draught of water for him. She carried out the request.
On stooping down to draw the water she saw three fine
salmon swimming in the well. They were caught, and
served the two as food till supply came to the famine-
stricken district from other quarters.

Ben Newe Well.

There is a big rugged rock on the top of Ben Newe in
Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, On the north side of this rock,
under a projection, there is a small circular-shaped hollow
which always contains water. Everyone that goes to the
top of the hill must put some small object into it, and then
take a draught of water off it. Unless this is done the
traveller will not reach in life the foot of the hill. I climbed
the hill in June of 1890, and saw in the well several pins, a
small bone, a pill-box, a piece of a flower, and a few other
objects.

70 Guardian Spirits of Wells a^id Lochs.

In Roumania each spring is supposed to be presided
over by a Spirit called Wodna zena or zofia. When a
Roumanian woman draws water she spills a few drops to
do homage to this Spirit. — TJie Land beyond the Forest, vol.
ii, p. 8, by E. Gerard (1888, Edinburgh).

LOCHAN-NAN-DEAAN.

This is a small loch on the side of the old military road
between Gorgarff and Tomintoul. The road passes close
by its brink on the west side. On the other side of the
road is an almost perpendicular rock, between 400 and
500 feet high. On the opposite side of the loch rises a very
steep hill to the height of about 1,000 feet. The road in a
snow-storm and after nightfall is very dangerous, and
tradition has it that many travellers have lost their lives in
the loch, and that their bodies were never recovered. It
was believed to be bottomless, and to be the abode of a
Water-Spirit that delighted in human sacrifice.

Notwithstanding this bloodthirsty Spirit, the men of
Strathdon and Gorgarff resolved to try to draw the water
from the loch in hope of finding the remains of those that
had perished in it. On a fixed day a number of them met,
with spades and picks to cut a way for the outflow of the
water through the road. When all were ready to begin
work, a terrific yell came from the loch, and there arose
from its waters a diminutive creature in shape of a man
with a red cap on his head. The men fled in terror,
leaving their picks and spades behind them. The Spirit
seized them and threw them into the loch. Then, with a
gesture of defiance at the fleeing men, and a roar that
shook the hills, he plunged into the loch and disappeared
amidst the water that boiled and heaved as red as blood.

LocHAN-WAN, i.e., Lambs' Loch.
Lochan-wan is a small loch, in a fine grazing district,
lying on the upper confines of Aberdeen and Banffshire.

Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs. 7 1

When the following took place the grazing ground was
common, and the tenants that lived adjoining it had each
the privilege of pasturing a certain number of sheep on it.
Each one that sent sheep to this common had to offer in
sacrifice to the Spirit of the loch the first lamb of his flock
dropped on the common. The omission of this sacrifice
brought disaster, for, unless the sacrifice was made, half of
his flock would be drowned before the end of the grazing
season.

An attempt was at one time made to draw the water
from the loch, and so dry it, that the burden of the yearly-
sacrifice might be got quit of A number of men met and
began to cut an outlet for the water. They wrought all
day without hindrance, and, when night came, they re-
tired. On returning next morning they found that their
work of the day before had been all undone during night.
Again they busily applied their tools, and did a good day's
work. This day's work was again undone during night.
The third day was again spent in hard toil, but it was re-
solved to watch during the night how it was that the work
carried out during each day was undone at night. A
watch was accordingly set. At the hour of midnight there
rose from the loch hundreds of small black creatures, each
carrying a spade. They immediately fell to work on what
the men had done during the day, and, in the course of a
few minutes, filled up the trench that they had dug three
times before. The grazing common is now a deer-forest,
and so the Lambs' Loch no longer needs the sacrifice of
lambs.

Loch Leetie.

This is a loch in Nairnshire. It was the common belief
that a bull lived in it. He was often heard roaring very
loudly, particulariy during frost. (Told by Mrs. Miller.)

At one time there lived near the Linn of Dee, in Mar
Forest, a man named Farquharson-na-cat, i.e., Farquharson
of the wand. He got this name from the fact that his

72 Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs.

trade was that of making baskets, sculls, etc. One night
he had to cross the river just a little above the linn. In
doing so he lost his footing, was carried into the gorge of
the linn, and drowned in sight of his wife. Search was
made at once for the body, but in vain. Next day the
pool below the linn, as well as the river further down, was
searched, but the body was not found. That evening the
widow took her late husband's plaid and went to the pool
below the linn, " atween the sun and the sky". She folded
the plaid in a particular way, knelt down on the bank of the
pool, and prayed to the Spirit of the pool to give up the
body of her drowned husband. She then threw the plaid
into the pool, uttering the words, " Take that and give me
back my dead." Next morning the dead body, wrapped
in the plaid, was found lying on the bank of the pool.
Tradition has it that the widow soon afterwards bore a son,
and that that son was the progenitor of the Farquharson
Clan.

The river Spey is spoken of as " she", and bears the
character of being " bloodthirsty". The common belief is
that " she" must have at least one victim yearly.

The rhyme about the rivers Dee and Don and their
victims is :

" Bloodthirsty Dee,
Each year needs three ;
But bonny Don,
She needs none."

The Roumanians believe that in the vicinity of deep
pools of water, more especially whirlpools, there resides
the baleur or wodna viuz — the cruel waterman who lies in
wait for human victims. {The Land beyond the Forest, by
E. Gerard, vol. ii, p. 9.)

Mr. A. Oldfield, in his account of TJie Aborigines of
Australia, says that the natives believe that every deep
muddy pool is inhabited by a Spirit called In-gnas, whose

Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs. 73

powers for mischief seem particularly active during night.
Some such pools they will not enter for any consideration,
even in broad daylight. ( Transactions of the Ethnological
Society, vol. iii, pp. 238, 239. New Series.) See Grimm's
Deutsche Mythologie (3rd edition), vol. i, pp. 549-567.

W. Gregor.

MANX
FOLK-LORE AND SUPERSTITIONS.

II.

IN my previous paper I made allusion to several wells of
greater or less celebrity in the Island ; but I find that
I have a few remarks to add. Mr. Arthur Moore, in his
book on Manx Surnames and Place-Names, p. 200, men-
tions a Chibber Unjin, which means the Well of the Ash-
tree, and he states that there grew near it " formerly
a sacred ash-tree, where votive offerings were hung". The
ash-tree calls to his mind Scandinavian legends respecting
the ash, but in any case one may suppose the ash was not
the usual tree to expect by a well in the Isle of Man^
otherwise this one would scarcely have been distinguished
as the Ash-tree Well. The tree to expect by a sacred
well is doubtless some kind of thorn, as in the case of
Chibber Undin in the parish of Malew. The name means
Foundation Well, so called in reference probably to the
foundations of an ancient cell, or keeill as it is called in
Manx, which lie close by, and are found to measure 2 1 feet
long by 12 feet broad. The following is Mr. Moore's
account of the well in his book already cited, p. 181 •
" The water of this well is supposed to have curative
properties. The patients who came to it, took a mouthful
of water, retaining it in their mouths till they had twice
walked round the well. They then took a piece of cloth
from a garment which they had worn, wetted it with the
water from the well, and hung it on the hawthorn-tree
which grew there. When the cloth had rotted away, the
cure was supposed to be effected."

Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions. 75

I visited the spot a few years ago in the company of the
Rev. E. B. Savage of St. Thomas's Parsonage, Douglas,
and we found the well nearly dried up in consequence of
the drainage of the field around it ; but the remains of the
old cell were there, and the thorn-bush had strips of cloth
or calico tied to its branches. We cut off one, which is
now in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Oxford. The account
Mr. Savage had of the ritual observed at the well differed
a little from that given by Mr. Moore, especially in the
fact that it made the patient who had been walking round
the well with water from the well in his mouth, empty that
water finally into a rag from his clothing : the rag was
then tied to a branch of the thorn. It does not appear
that the kind of tree mattered much ; nay, a tree was not,
it seems to me, essential. At any rate, St. Maughold's
Well has no tree growing near it now ; but it is right to
say, that when Mr. Kermode and I visited it, we could find
no rags left near the spot, nor indeed could we expect to
find any, as there was nothing to which they might be
tied on that windy headland. The absence of the tree
does not, however, prove that the same sort of ritual was
not formerly observed at St. Maughold's Well as at Chibber
Undin ; and here I must mention another well which
1 have visited in the Island more than once. It is on the
side of Bradda Hill, a little above the village of Bradda,
and in the direction of Fleshwick : I was attracted to it by
the fact that it had, as I had been told by Mr. Savage,
near it formerly an old cell or kceill, and the name of the
saint to which it belonged may probably be gathered from
the name of the well, which, in the Manx of the south of
the Island, is Chibbyrt Valtane, pronounced approximately
Chilvurt Valtane or AlSane. The personal name would be
written in modern Manx in its radical form as Baltane,
and if it occurred in the genitive in old inscriptions I should
expect to find it written Baltagni. It is, however, un-
known to me, but to be placed by the side of the name of
the saint after whom the parish of Santon is called in the

76 Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

south-east of the island. This is pronounced in Manx
approximately^ Santane or San'Sane,and would have yielded
an early inscriptional nominative Sanctagnus, which, in
fact, occurs on an old stone near Llandudno on the oppo-
site coast : see Rhys's Lectures on Welsh Philology, p. 371^.
To return to the well, it would seem to have been asso-
ciated with an old cell, but it has no tree growing by it.
Mr. Savage and I were told, nevertheless, that a boy who
had searched a short time previously had got some coins
out of it, quite recent ones, consisting of halfpennies or
pennies, so far as I remember. On my observing to one
of the neighbours that I saw no rags there, I was assured
that there had been some ; and, on my further saying that
I saw no tree there to which they could be tied, I was told
that they used to be attached to the brambles, which grew
there in great abundance. Thus it appears to me that, in
the Isle of Man at any rate, a tree to bear the rags was
not an essential adjunct of a holy well.

There is another point to which I should like to call
attention, namely, the habit of writing about the rags as
offerings, which they are not in all cases. The offerings
are the coins, beads, buttons, or pins thrown into the
well, or placed in a receptacle for the purpose close to the
well. The rags may belong to quite a different order of
things : they may be the vehicles of the diseases which the
patients communicate to them when they spit out the
well-water from their mouths. The rags are put up to
rot, so that the disease supposed to cling to them may
also die ; and so far is this believed to be the case, that
anyone who carries away one of the rags may expect to

^ I say 'approximately', as, more strictly speaking, the ordinary
pronunciation is Snfiaen, almost as one syllable, and from this arises
a variant, which is sometimes written Siotidatte, while the latest
English development, regardless of the accentuation of the Anglo-
Manx form Santon (pronounced Sdntn), makes the parish into a St.
Ann's ! For the evidence that it was the parish of a St. Sanctan (or
Sanctagnus\ see Moore's Siir)ia7nes, p. 209.

Manx Folk-lore and Super stitio7is. jj

attract the disease communicated to it by the one who left
it near the holy well. So it is highly desirable that the
distinction between the ofiferings and the accursed things
should be observed, at any rate in writing of holy wells in
the Isle of Man. How far the same distinction is to be
found elsewhere I am unable to say ; but the question is
one which deserves attention.

From the less known saints Baltane and Santane I wish
to pass to the mention of a more famous one, namely,
St. Catherine, and this because of a fair called after her,
and held on the 6th day of December at the village of
Colby in the south of the Island. When I heard of this
fair in 1888, it was in temporary abeyance on account of
a lawsuit respecting the plot of ground on which the fair is
wont to be held ; but I was told that it usually began with
a procession, in which a live hen is carried about : this is
called St. Catherine's hen. The next day the hen is
carried about dead and plucked, and a rhyme pronounced
at a certain point in the proceeding contemplates the
burial of the hen, but whether that ever took place I know
not. It runs thus :

" Kiark Catrina marroo :
Gows yn kiojie as goyms fiy cassyn,
As ver mayd ee fdn thalloo."

" Cathrine's hen is dead :
The head take thou and I the feet,
And we shall put her under ground."

A man who is found to be not wholly sober after the fair
is locally said to have plucked a feather from the hen
(Teh er goaill fedjag ass y ddark) ; so it would seem that
there must be such a scramble to get at the hen, and to
take part in the plucking, that it requires a certain
amount of drink to allay the thirst of the over-zealous
devotees of St. Catherine. But why should this ceremony
be associated with St. Catherine? and what were the

yS Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

origin and meaning of it ? These are questions which
I should be glad to have expounded by the Society, for
I have not had time to consult Mr. Eraser's Golden Bough,
in order to see if it gives any close parallel to the proceed-
ings of the good people of Colby.

Manx has a word quaail (Irish coinhdhdzl), meaning a
* meeting', and from it we have a derivative qiiaaltagh or
qtialtagh, meaning, according to Kelly's Dictionary, "the
first person or creature one meets going from home",
whereby the author probably meant the first person met
by one who is going from home. Kelly goes on to add
that " this person is of great consequence to the super-
stitious, particularly to women the first time they go out
after lying-in". Cregeen, in his Dictionary, defines the
qualtagh as " the first person met on New Year's Day, or
on going on some new work, etc." Before proceeding to
give you my notes on the qualtagh of the present day
I may as well finish with Cregeen, for he adds the following
information : " A company of young lads or men, generally
went in old times on what they termed the Qualtagh, at
Christmas or New Year's Day, to the houses of their more
wealthy neighbours ; some one of the company repeating
in an audible voice the following rhyme : —

" Ollick ghennal erriu as blein feer vie,
Seihll as slaynt da'n slane lught thie ;
Bea as gennallys eu bio ry-cheilley,
Shee as graih eddyr mrane as deiney ;
Cooid as cowryn, stock as stoyr,
Palchey phuddase, as skaddan dy-liooar ;
Arran as caashey, eeym as roayrt ;
Baase, myr lugh, ayns uhllin ny soalt ;
Cadley sauchey tra vees shiu ny Ihie,
As feeackle y jargan, nagh bee dy mie."

It may be loosely translated as follows : —

" A merry Christmas, a happy new year,
Long life and health to the household here.

Manx Folk-lore and Siiperstitions. 79

Food and mirth to you dwelling together,
Peace and love to all, men and women ;
Wealth and distinction, stock and store,
Potatoes enough, and herrings galore ;
Bread and cheese, butter and plenty,
Death, like a mouse, in a barn or haggard ;
Sleep in safety while down you lie,
And the flea's tooth — may it not badly bite."

At present New Year's Day is the time when the qualtagh
is of general interest, and in this case he is practically the
first person one sees (besides the members of one's own
household) on the morning of that day, whether that person
meets one out of doors or comes to one's house. The
following is what I have learnt by inquiry as to the
qualtagh : all are agreed that he must not be a woman or
girl, and that he must not be spaagagJi or splay-footed,
while a woman from the parish of Marown told me that he
must not have red hair. The prevalent belief, however, is
that he should be a dark-haired man or boy, and it is of
no consequence how rough his appearance may be, pro-
vided he be black-haired. However, I was told by one
man in Rushen that the qualtagh need not be black-
haired : he must be a man or boy. But this less restricted
view is not the one held in the central and northern parts
of the Island, so far as I could ascertain. An English lady
living in the neighbourhood of Castletown told me that
her son, whom I know to be, like his mother, a pronounced
blond, not being aware what consequences might be asso-
ciated with his visit, called at a house in Castletown on the
morning of New Year's Day, and he chanced to be the
qualtagh. The mistress of the house was horrified, and
expressed her anticipation of misfortunes to the English
lady ; and as it happened that one of the children of the
house died in the course of the year, the English lady has
heard of it since. Naturally the association of these events
are not pleasant to her ; but, so far as I can remem.ber,
they date only some eight or nine years ago.

8o Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

The Society may have pubHshed information on this
subject, but I am at present utterly ignorant what import-
ance the qualtagh may have enjoyed in other parts of the
British Isles. As to Wales, I can only recall, that, when
I was a very small boy, I used to be sent very early on
New Year's morning to call on an old uncle of mine,
because, as I was told, I should be certain to receive
a calennig or a calendary gift from him, but on no account
would my sister be allowed to go, as he would only see
a boy on such an occasion as that. I do not recollect
anything being said as to the colour of one's hair or the
shape of one's foot ; but that sort of negative evidence is
of very little value, as the qualtagh was fast passing out of
consideration.

The preference here given to a boy over a girl looks
like one of the widely-spread superstitions which rule against
the fair sex ; but, as to the colour of the hair, I should be
predisposed to think that it possibly rests on racial anti-
pathy, long ago forgotten ; for it may perhaps be regarded
as going back to a time when the dark-haired race reckoned
the Aryan of fair complexion as his natural enemy, the
very sight of whom brought with it thoughts calculated to
make him unhappy and despondent. If this idea prove to
be approximately correct, one might suggest that the racial
distinction in question referred to the struggles between
the inhabitants of Man and their Scandinavian conquerors ;
but to my thinking it is just as likely that it goes far
further back.

Lastly, what is one to say with regard to the spaagagh
or splay-footed person, now more usually defined as flat-
footed or having no instep ? I have heard it said in the
south of the Island that it is unlucky to meet a spaagagh in
the morning at any time of the year, and not on New
Year's Day alone ; but this does not help us in the attempt
to find the genesis of this belief If it were said that it
was unlucky to meet a deformed person, it would look
somewhat more natural ; but why fix on the flat-footed

Manx Folk-lore and SiLperstitions. 8 1

especially? For my part I have not been trained to
distinguish flat-footed people, so I do not recollect noticing
any in the Isle of Man ; but, granting there may be
a small proportion of such people in the Island, does it
not seem to you strange that they should have their
importance so magnified as this superstition would seem
to do ? I must confess that I cannot understand it, unless
we have here also some supposed racial characteristic, let
us say greatly exaggerated. To explain myself I should
put it that the non-Aryan aborigines were a small people
of great agility and nimbleness, and that their Aryan
conquerors moved more slowly and deliberately, whence
the former, of springier movements, might come to nick-
name the latter the flat-feet. It is even conceivable that
there was some amount of foundation for it in fact. If I
might speak from my own experience, I might mention a
difficulty I have often had with shoes of English make,
namely, that I have always found them, unless made
to my measure, apt to have their instep too low for me.
It has never occurred to me to buy ready-made shoes in
France or Germany, but I know a lady as Welsh as
myself who has often bought shoes in France, and her
experience is, that it is much easier for her to get shoes
there to fit her than in England, and for the very reason
which I have already suggested, namely, that the instep in
English shoes is lower than in French ones. These two
instances do not warrant an induction that the Celts are
higher in the instep than Teutons, and that they have
inherited that characteristic from the non-Aryan element
in their ancestry ; but they will do to suggest a question,
and that is all I want : Are the descendants of the
non-Aryan aborigines of these islands proportionately
higher in the instep than those of more purely Aryan
descent ?

There is one other question which I should like to ask
before leaving the qualtagh, namely, as to the rela-
tion of the custom of New Year's gifts to the belief

VOL. III. G

82 Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

in the qualtagh. I have heard it related in the Isle of
Man that women have been known to keep indoors on
New Year's Day until the qualtagh comes, which some-
times means their being prisoners for the greater part of
the day, in order to avoid the risk of first meeting one who
is not of the right sex and complexion. On the other
hand, when the qualtagh is of the right description, con-
siderable fuss is made of him ; to say the least, he has to
accept food and drink, possibly more permanent gifts.
Thus a tall, black-haired native of Kirk Michael described
to me how he chanced on New Year's Day years ago
to turn into a lonely cottage in order to light his pipe, and
how he found he was the qualtagh : he had to sit down to
have food, and when he went away it was with a present
and the blessings of the family. Now New Year's Day is
the time for gifts in Wales, as shown by the name for
them, calennig, which is derived from calan, the Welsh
form of the Latin calender, New Year's Day being in Welsh
Y Calan, ' the Calends'. The same is the day for gifts
in Scotland and in Ireland, except in so far as Christmas-
boxes have been making inroads from England ; I need
not add that the Jour de I'An is the day for gifts also in
France. My question then is this : Is there any connec-
tion of origin between the institution of New Year's Day
gifts and the belief in a qualtagh ?

Now that it has been indicated what sort of a qualtagh
it is unlucky to have, I may as well proceed to mention
the other things which I have heard treated as unlucky in
the Island. Some of them scarcely require to be noticed,
as there is nothing specially Manx about them, such as
the belief that it is unlucky to have the first glimpse of the
new moon through glass. That is a superstition which is,
I believe, widely spread, and, among other countries, it is
quite familiar in Wales. It is also believed in Man, as it
used to be in Wales and Ireland, that it is unlucky to dis-
turb antiquities, especially old burial-places and old churches.

Manx Folk- core and Superstitions. 83

This superstition is unfortunately fast passing away in
all three countries, but you still hear of it, especially in
the Isle of Man, after some mischief has been done. Thus
a good Manx scholar told me how a relative of his in the
Ronnag, a small valley near South Barrule, had carted the
earth from an old burial-ground on his farm and used it as
manure for his fields, and how his beasts died afterwards.
The narrator said he did not know whether there was any
truth in it, but everybody believed that it was the reason
why the cattle died ; and so did the farmer himself at
last : so he desisted from completing his disturbance of
the old site. It is possibly for a similar reason that a
house in ruins is seldom pulled down and the materials
used for other buildings : where that has been done mis-
fortunes have ensued : at any rate, I have heard it said
more than once. I ought to have stated that the non-
disturbance of antiquities in the Island is quite consistent
with their being now and then shamefully neglected as
elsewhere: this is now met by an excellent statute recently
enacted by the House of Keys for the preservation of the
public monuments in the Island.

Of the other and more purely Manx superstitions I may
mention one which obtains among the Peel fishermen of
the present day : no boat is willing to be third in the
order of sailing out from Peel harbour to the fisheries. So
it sometimes happens that after two boats have departed,
the others remain watching each other for days, each
hoping that somebody else may be reckless enough to
break through the invisible barrier of ' bad luck'. I have
often asked for an explanation of this superstition, but the
only intelligible answer I have had was that it has been
observed that the third boat has done badly several years in
succession ; but I am unable to ascertain how far that repre-
sents a fact. Another of the unlucky things is to have
a white stone in the boat, even in the ballast, and for that
I never could get any explanation at all ; but there is no
doubt as to the fact of this superstition, and I may illus-

G 2

84 Manx Folk-lore and Supei^stitions.

trate it from the case of a clergyman's son on the west
side, who took it into his head to go out with some
fishermen several days in succession. They chanced to be
unsuccessful each time, and they gave their Jonah the
nickname of Clagli Vane or ' White Stone'. Here I may
mention a fact which I do not know where else to put,
namely, that a fisherman on his way in the morning to the
fishing, and chancing to pass by the cottage of another
fisherman who is not on friendly terms with him, will
pluck a straw from the thatch of the latter's dwelling.
Thereby he is supposed to rob him of luck in the fishing
for that day. One would expect to learn that the straw
from the thatch served as the subject of an incantation
directed against the owner of the thatch, but I have never
heard anything suggested to that effect : so I conclude
that the plucking of the straw is only a partial survival of
what was once a complete ritual for bewitching one's
neighbour.

Owing to my ignorance as to the superstitions of other
fishermen than those of the Isle of Man, I will not attempt
to classify the remaining instances to be mentioned, such
as the unluckiness of mentioning a horse or a mouse on
board a fishing-boat : I seem, however, to have heard of
similar taboos among Scotch fishermen. Novices in the
Manx fisheries have to learn not to point to anything with
one finger : they have to point with the whole hand or not
at all. Whether the Manx are alone in thinking it un-
lucky to lend salt from one boat to another when they are
engaged in the fishing, I know not : such lending would
probably be inconvenient, but why it should be unlucky,.
as they believe it to be, does not appear. The first of May
is a day on which it is unlucky to lend anything, and
especially to give anyone fire. This looks as if it pointed
back to some Druidic custom of lighting all fires at that
time from a sacred hearth, but, so far as is known, this-
only took place at the beginning of the other half-year

Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions. 85

namely, Allhallows, called in Manx Laa 'II mooar ny
Saintsh, ' the Day of the great Feast of the Saints'.

Lastly, I may mention that it is unlucky to say that
you are very well : at any rate, I infer that it is regarded
so, as you will never get a Manxman to say that he is feer
vicy 'very well'. He usually admits that he is 'middling';
and if by any chance he risks a stronger adjective, he
hastens to qualify it by adding ' now' or ' just now', with
an emphasis indicative of his anxiety not to say too much.
His habits of speech point back to a time when the Manx
mind was dominated by the fear of awaking malignant
influences in the spirit-world around him. This has
had the effect of giving the Manx peasant's character
a tinge of reserve and suspicion, which makes it difficult to
gain his confidence : his acquaintance has, therefore, to be
cultivated for some time before you can say that you
know the workings of his heart. The pagan belief in
a Nemesis has doubtless passed away, but not without
materially affecting the Manx idea of a personal devil.
Ever since the first allusion made in my presence by
Manxmen to the devil, I have been more and more deeply
impressed that the Manx devil is a much more formidable
being than Englishmen or Welshmen picture him. He is
a graver and, if I may say so, a more respectable being,
allowing no liberties to be taken with his name, so you had
better not call him a Devil, the Evil One, or like names, for
his proper designation is Noid ny Hanmey, ' the Enemy of
the Soul', and in ordinary Anglo-Manx conversation he
is commonly called ' the Enemy of Souls'. The Manx
are, as a rule, a sober people, and highly religious ; as
regards their theological views, they are mostly members
of the Church of England or Wesleyan Methodists, or else
both, which is by no means unusual. Religious phrases
are not rare in their ordinary conversation ; in fact, they
struck me as being of more frequent occurrence than in
Wales, even the Wales of my boyhood ; and here and

86 Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

there this fondness for religious phraseology has left its
traces on the native vocabulary. Take, for example, the
word for ' anybody, a person, or human being', which
Cregeen ^nxxV^'s, py agJi or p'agk : he rightly regards it as the
colloquial pronunciation of peccagh, ' a sinner'. So, when
one knocks at a Manx door and calls out. Vet fagJi st/ne ?
he strictly speaking asks, ' Is there any sinner indoors ?'
The question has, however, been explained to me, with
unconscious irony, as properly meaning ' Is there any
Christian indoors?' and care is now taken in reading to pro-
nounce the consonants of the word peccagJi, ' sinner', so as
to distinguish it from the word for ' anybody' : but the
identity of origin is unmistakable.

Lastly, the fact that a curse is a species of prayer, to
wit, a prayer for evil to follow, is well exemplified in
Manx by the same words givee^ and gweeagJiyii meaning
both kinds of prayer. Thus I found myself stumbling
several times, in reading through the Psalms in Manx, from
not bearing in mind the sinister meaning of these words ;
for example, in Ps. xiv, 6, where we have Ta 'n becal oc
lane dy gJiweeaghyn as dy herriuid, which I mechanically
construed to mean "Their mouth is full of praying and
bitterness", instead of " cursing and bitterness"; and so in
other cases, such as Ps. x, 7, and cix, 27.

It occurred to me on various occasions to make inquiries
as to the attitude of religious Manxmen towards witch-
craft and the charmer's vocation. Nobody, so far as
I know, accuses them of favouring witchcraft in any way
whatsoever ; but I have heard it distinctly stated that the
most religious men are they who have most confidence in
charmers and their charms ; and a lay preacher whom
I know has been mentioned to me as now and then doing
a little charming in cases of danger or pressing need. On
the whole, I think the charge against religious people of

^ Old-fashioned grammarians and dictionary makers are always
delighted to handle Mrs. Partington's broom : so Kelly thinks he has
done a fine thing by printing ^//(jv, ' prayer', cLnd^wee, ' cursing'.

Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions. 2>j

consulting charmers is exaggerated ; but I believe that
recourse to the charmer is more usual and more openly-
had than, for example, in Wales, where those who consult
a dyn Jiyspys or ' wise man' have to do it secretly, and at
the risk of being expelled by their co-religionists from the
Seiet or ' Society'. There is somewhat in the atmosphere
of Man to remind one rather of the Wales of a past
generation, the'Wales of the Rev. Edmund Jones, author of
a Relation of Apparitions of Spirits ift the Coimty of Mon-
mouth and the Principality of Wales (Newport, 1813),
a book which its author tells us was " designed to confute
and to prevent the infidelity of denying the being and
apparition of spirits, which tends to irreligion and atheism".
That little volume not only deserves to be known to the
Psychical Society, but it might be consulted with a certain
amount of advantage by folk-lorists.

The Manx peasantry are perhaps the most independent
and prosperous in the British Isles ; but their position
geographically and politically has been favourable to the
continuance of ideas not quite up to the level of the latest
papers on Darwinism and Evolution read at our Church
Congresses in this country. This you may say is here wide of
the mark ; but, after giving you in my first paper specimens
of rather ancient superstitions as recently known in the
Island, it is but right that you should have an idea of the
surroundings in which they have lingered into modern
times. Perhaps nothing will better serve to bring this
home to your minds than the fact, for which there is
abundant evidence, that old people still living remember
men and women clad in white sheets doing penance pub-
licly in the churches of Man. Some of the penitents have
only been dead some six or seven years, nay, it is possible,
for anything I know, that one or two may be still alive.
This seems to us in this country to belong, so to say,
to ancient history, and it transports us to a state of things
which we find it hard to realise. The lapse of years has
brought about profounder changes in our greater Isle of

88 Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

Britain than in the smaller Isle of Man ; and we, failing
ourselves to escape the pervading influences of those
profounder changes, become an instance of the compre-
hensive truth of the words,

Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis.

J. Rhys.

Discussion.

Dr. Karl Blind : Prof. Rhys is right in stating that the ash-
tree may be referred to the great ash-tree of Scandinavian
mythology ; that it symbolizes the Universe, as described in
Eddaic days. The well, whose water is exceedingly pure, re-
minds us of the fountains that lie at the root of the Scandinavian
ash-tree, and in the Edda it is said that it is as pure and white
as the shell of an egg.

If I have rightly understood Prof. Rhys, a sacred thorn-bush is
also mentioned. That would remind us of the worship of the
thorn-bush in Teutonic literature. The thorn-bush is very much
used among the Teutons for crematory purposes. No one was
allowed to clip or go near them. Brand, in his Popular Antiquities,
mentions such a thorn-bush in Scotland.

The well-worship was a familiar worship of our Scandinavian
ancestors. It is easily understood why it should prevail very
much in the Isle of Man.

As to the red-haired man : this refers to the Scandinavian
conquerors of the older people of Iberian descent in the Isle of
Man. These aborigines had still a fear of the red-haired man
who had conquered them. The Isle of Man is full of names
corresponding to Scandinavian. The people afterwards became
Celticised in speech, but very often examples occur with the
Germanic type.

Prof. Rhys says that the superstition about red-haired men may
be found further back than the Scandinavian conquest of the
Island. I have no doubt whatever that in very ancient times there
has been wave after wave of Teutonic migration and emigration
along the shores of Scotland. There are no doubt traces in

Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions. 89

poems that refer to older conquests of Man. The first movement
was ahvays towards Ireland and then went back to Scotland. In the
Isle of Man a great deal is spoken of the " little people", and the
little people (as I hear from my daughter and son-in-law, who have
visited the Island) are still worshipped there. Many inhabitants
go to bed on stormy days to allow the little people to have refuge
comfortably. The little people mean doubtless the Iberian ab-
origines.

As to the instep, I can speak from personal experience. Al-
most every German finds that an English shoemaker makes his
boots not high enough in the instep. The northern Germans (I
am from the south) have perhaps slightly flatter feet than the
southern Germans.

With regard to the prohibition to carry manure from church-
yards, a sanitary idea lingers under it, though doubtless connected
with religious ideas as in other cases. In cat-lore, e.g.^ there is a great
deal of scientific knowledge with regard to change of temperature,
people having closely observed the manners of cats under different
atmospheric conditions, and being able to tell, therefore, whether
storm is brewing or fine weather coming on. In certain cases of
diseases, such as small-pox for instance, the carrying of manure
would certainly become fatal to beast or man.

Horse, mouse, etc., on board ship are held to be fatal, and they
must be mentioned under other names. Shetland fishermen will
not mention a church or a clergyman (the latter being especially
unlucky) on board ship. They use quite other names on board.

A Manx man will not speak of himself as being very well. That
superstition is all over the world. The Germans have the expres-
sion beschreien. You must not mention a thing too favourably ; you
are punished for too great exuberance of joy.

It is a mistake to think the Scandinavians did not bring any of
their women with them. They are often mentioned in the sagas.

Mr. GoMME : With reference to well-superstitions, a very in-
teresting suggestion made by Prof. Rhys is that rags are not offer-
ings, but are put there for the cure of diseases. There is some
evidence against that, from the fact that in the case of some wells,
especially in Scotland at one time, the whole garment was put
down as an offering. Gradually these offerings of clothes became

90 Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions.

less and less till they came down to rags. Also in other parts, the
geographical distribution of rag-offerings coincides with the ex-
istence of monoliths and dolmens. Though the Manx evidence
goes against the more general conclusion, it is important to
emphasise it. The absence of the tree in connection with well-
worship is a very interesting subject. Where we find in England
no tree, the rag-well gives way to the pin-well, and as the trees are
worn away the pin, as another part of dress, is substituted.

As to the first-foot on New Year's Day, Prof. Rhys seemed to
distinguish between the three different objects which were unlucky
— a woman, red-haired, and splay-footed people. Red hair and
splay-foot might be matters of race. Why not go a little bit
further, and say the case of the woman is also a matter of race ?
Mr. Stuart-Glennie's matriarchy theory is based on the fact of
many tribes marrying women of different races. Two elements
of the first-foot superstition may be put down as racial, why not
the third ?

As to lighting of fire from one central fire, there is the belief
that if no fire were found some great misfortune would happen.
Fire-worship, Canon Taylor asserts, is not Aryan at all, but
Iberian. As to fires being lighted from a common centre, I
should like to see the Society take up the subject as one to in-
vestigate. It is found in all parts where Celtic holding has been
most lasting. Fires of the household are lighted from that heltan
fire on a particular day. There is a superstition against not light-
ing from that particular fire. It is evident that Prof. Rhys has
observed with very great attention. I should like to put this
question before him.

Mr. NuTT : As to the qualtagh, I have been thrown into an
ocean of perplexity, first by Prof. Rhys and secondly by Mr.
Gomme. It would seem from Prof. Rhys that the unlucky per-
son is a remnant of the conquering race ; a woman is the unlucky
person according to Mr. Gomme ; but if red-haired and splay-
footed people, the qualtaghs were not likely to be women of the
aboriginal race, i.e., assuming this race to have been a dark,
small, high-instepped one. Assuming there is anything at all in
the historical and ethnological explanation, why should unlucki-
ness attach itself both to the conquering race and to the woman,

Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions. 9 1

who must be representative /ar excellence of the conquered race ?
A grave doubt is suggested whether the historical explanation is
really the correct one. If it is, I then would emphasise this point.
The whole of the lower beliefs and practices of this mixed race
is shown to come from the prehistoric lower races. It is a
conclusion with much to recommend it on a priori grounds, but
we must look very cautiously at it ; and when we find such
objections as I have urged we must try and see if there are not
other explanations.

Editorial. — We have received some information respecting the
marks of the " qualtagh", or " first-foot", in other parts of Britain.
We propose to print this in the next number, and we ask readers
to send on, before the ist of May, any information on the subject,
derived either from personal knowledge or from books, they may
have. Both the positive and negative signs of the qualtagh
should be noted. When the information is from personal know-
ledge, exact localities and dates should be specified ; when from
books, not only should the bibliographical indications be full and
accurate, but all the points mentioned by the writer should be
given so as to obviate the need for further reference. Letters
should be addressed to Mr. J. Jacobs, 4, Hazelmere Road, Kilburn,
London, N.W., and should be marked " First-foot" in the left-hand
corner.

FOLK-LORE TALES OF CENTRAL
AFRICA.

[collected in nyassaland.]

Story of the Man who lived by Overreaching

Others.

ONCE upon a time there was a great famine, and a
certain man went to the forest, and found some figs,
which he plucked and put into his bag. Having secured
the figs he went on his way, and in his journey he came
upon a man who was eating grass.

He said to him, "Why do you eat grass?"

The other replied, saying, " Because there is no food ;
thou thyself seest that this is a time of hunger."

Then the deceiver said, " Here are some figs ; eat," and
the other replied thanking him.

As the man who was eating the grass finished eating the
figs, the deceiver turned and said, " Give me my figs."

To this the man replied, " Why did you give me your
figs ? Did I ask them of you ?"

Then the two men disputed, the one saying that no man
who is hungry would refuse to eat when food is offered to
him, and the other only saying, " Give me my figs." After
they had disputed a long time the man who had eaten the
figs gave the other his fishing-net. So the dispute ended,
and the man went on his way carrying the fishing-net.

It came to pass that while continuing his journey he
came upon certain people who were trying to catch fish
with their hands. Coming up to them he said, " Why are
ye trying to catch fish with your hands ?"

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 93

They replied, " We have no net, and the fish are defeat-
ing us."

The deceiver said, "Just try this net of mine."

They tried the net and caught a great many fishes.

Then the deceiver turned round and said, " Give me my
net which I took from the man who was eating grass ; the
same who ate my figs. Give me my net ; give me my net."

They gave him many fish, and he went on his way.

At length he came to a village, and saw some people
who had nothing to serve as relish with their porridge, for
they were dipping their porridge on the ulcers on their
bodies.

The man said, " Why are ye doing thus ?"

They replied, " Because we have no relish."

He said, " Here are some fish for you."

They thanked him, and took them, not knowing that
he would turn again and ask for them. So, when they
had eaten the fish he said, " Give me my fish ; the fish
which I took from the people who used my net ; the net
which I took from the man who ate my figs, even he who
was eating grass. Give me my fish ; give me my fish."

They brought some millet and gave to him, and he went
on his way.

While he continued his journey he came upon some
guinea-fowls eating white ants, and he said to them, " Why
are you eating white ants ?"

The guinea-fowls replied, saying, " They are our food."

The deceiver said, " Here is proper food."

The guinea-fowls said, " Give us that we may eat."

He poured it out, and they consumed it all.

When he saw that they had eaten the millet, he said,
" Give me my millet ; the millet which I took from the
people who were dipping their porridge on their ulcers ;
the people who ate my fish ; the fish which I took from
the people who appropriated my net ; the net which I took
from the man who ate my figs, even he who was eating
grass. Give me my millet ; give me my millet."

94 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

The guinea-fowls took their wing- feathers and gave to
him, and he went on his way.

As he journeyed further he came upon people who were
decorated with the leaves of the maize-plant.

They said to him, " Give us feathers, so that we may
decorate ourselves."

He gave them feathers, and they decorated themselves.

When he saw that they had finished decorating them-
selves, he said, " Give me my feathers ; the feathers which
I took from the guinea-fowls which ate my millet ; the
millet that I took from the people who dipped their por-
ridge on their ulcers ; the people who ate my fish ; the fish
which I took from the men who used my net ; the net that
1 took from the man who ate my figs, even he who was
eating grass."

They gave him a goat, which he secured, and went on
his way.

He then came upon a village, and he said, " I wish to
sleep here." The people agreed, and pointed him to a hut.
He inquired, saying, " Where shall my goat sleep ?"

The people said, " There is the goat-fold, with the other
goats."

The man seemed perplexed, and then said, "It would be
well that my goat should remain in the cattle-fold."

They agreed, and he secured his goat in the cattle-fold.

The deceiver went to the cattle-fold during night and
took his goat, and thrust a stick into it, and the goat
died.

And as morning dawned, all the people arose, and saw
that the goat was dead.

The deceiver said, " Give me my goat ; it has been killed
by your cattle."

The people took a bullock and gave him, and he went
away with it.

After he had journeyed to a distant part he cut off the
beast's tail, and hid the carcase in the wood. He then
planted the tail in the ground, and, holding on to the end,

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 95

he cried with a great cry, " Come ye to my help. My
bullock has entered the ground."

All the people gathered together, and they pulled upon
the tail, and it broke.

The deceiver then said, " Ye have pulled off my bullock's
tail. Make ye haste and bring your hoes, and dig down
and recover my bullock."

They did so, and digged down, but came not upon the
beast.

The deceiver then said, " Just so ! Give me my bullock,
because ye have pulled off its tail,"

They gave him forty cattle.

The story is ended.

The Story of a Tshewa Hunter.

A certain Tshewa had a musical bow. It came to pass
on a certain day that he went to hunt the reed-buck. He
came upon reed-buck and struck at one with his arrow.
He went home with it.

He then roasted it and ate it, and was filled.

Another day he went to hunt on the mountain, and
while hunting he came upon a lioness with a young cub
in a cavern on the mountain. He went and called the
people, saying, " Let us go, ye people, that ye may seize it."

They went and got their shields and spears, but some
went and took guns. Then they went all of them to the
mountain to take the cub.

They arrived at the mountain, and said, " Show us where
thou sawest the lioness and cub."

He replied, " Climb ye also the mountain, and ye will
see the great cave where they are."

They climbed the mountain and saw a very large cavern,
whereupon they all made a great noise, firing guns and
beating shields, at which the lioness was affrighted and
fled away.

They then took the cub and carried it home with them,

96 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

at the same time jeering at their friend, and saying, " Thou,
master, who sawest the Honess with a young cub on the
mountain, wast afraid to seize it, and came and called us.
We went to the hill and seized the cub of the lioness.
Bring out meat that we may eat plentifully over this
lioness' cub."

So he gave them forty hoes, and they were satisfied ; but
they knew that he wished to get the lioness' cub so that he
might have abundance of meat to eat.

The young lion ate heartily, and soon grew to a great
size.

It came to pass on a certain day that he went with his
lion to hunt buffalo. He went to the swamps, and came
upon a large herd of buffalo.

He said to the lion, " My lion, how is it that thou dost
not seize the buffalo? If thou dost not seize them I will
kill thee."

So the lion roared, and the buffalo were affrighted, and
he seized three. The others fled for fear and escaped.

He then called the lion and said, " Stay here, and I will
go and call the people." So he went to call the people.

And it came to pass, while he was going to call the
people, some people came up behind him and said, " See,
here is a lion that has killed three buffalo." The lion
roared.

Then they said, " Let us carry away the meat." The
lion roared greatly when he saw that they were to carry off
the buffalo meat, and he seized and killed a great many of
them.

Then the man came up, and the people whom he had
called, and when they saw the people lying dead around,
they said, " This Hon of yours will not cease till he has
killed all the people."

The owner of the lion replied, " Yes, indeed, but I will
slay the Hon lest he kill the people and bring law-suits
upon me."

So he went and flayed the buffalo, and took the liver of

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 97

one and cut it in two, and threw the two pieces, one by one,
to the h'on, which took them at once and ate them.

And it came to pass, when they were returning home, the
master of the Hon said to the people, " Pass ye on leading
the way, and the lion will follow behind. As for me I will
follow after the lion and will slay it, because it killed the
people. I was saying to myself that it would hunt buffalo
for me."

So they went, and the lion, not being on the alert as they
journeyed, was pierced with an arrow by its owner. It
turned round, and when it saw who had pierced it, it made
bounds and grappled with its master, but was killed eventu-
ally by a blow from an axe. It fell down and died.

Its master skinned it, and carried the skin home with
him.

The people said, " So it is with those who are made full.
Even wild beasts may change again. Those who are made
full may bite those who fill them." All said, " It is bad,
very bad, to bring up wild beasts."

They ate their meat.

It is finished.

The Story of a Man who was a Deceiver.

A man went to a certain village and met with some
girls, and inquired of them, saying, "Where are you going?"

The girls replied and said, " We are going to a marriage.
Do you wish to accompany us ?"

The man agreed to go with them, and they all went on
together.

So when they came to the village whither they were
going, they all entered the cattle-fold and engaged in a
dance, and at the close of the day they separated to their
several sleeping-huts.

And it came to pass next morning that they all went
to the reeds and remained there. The heads of the village
prepared for the marriage^feast by killing several beasts.

VOL. III. H

98 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

The girls were then called back, and again engaged in
dancing until the meat had been divided.

When each party had received their share of the meat, it
was carried away to the hut of the girls. Then the girls
ordered the man who had come with them to go and cook
their share. He did so, cooking it in two pots, outside the
hut. Meantime all the young women and girls were in
the hut.

Then the man feigned illness, and lay down. One of the
girls went out, and seeing him lying down, inquired, "What
is it ?"

He replied, saying, " My head is very painful."

But he did this merely feigning sickness ; he told lies.

The girl entered the hut where the others were, and the
man got up and uncovered the pots in which the meat was
being cooked, and ate it all, until only the bones remained
uneaten. Then he lay down again.

Afterwards three of the girls went out and asked him
saying, "Is the meat now prepared?" To this he replied,
" I do not know ; I have not seen it,"

The girls then went and uncovered the pots which con-
tained the meat, and behold ! there were only bones to be
seen. They all wondered greatly, and cried out, " The
meat is all eaten — there remain only the bones."

Thereupon they inquired of the man, " Where is the
meat ?"

He replied, " I do not know. I was lying down, and I
fell asleep."

The girls went and told the others who were in the hut,
saying, " Come out, the meat is all eaten."

They came out, and bade good-bye to the men and
women and the young men of the village. They said,
** Remain well. They have eaten all our meat."

The people wondered greatly, and replied, " Good-bye :
go well. Salute your people at home."

So the girls went out of the village, and went on their
way home, singing as they went. The man also went with
them.

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 99

They went on and crossed a river. The man there
turned aside, saying, " I am going this way. Go ye well."

While they were departing from him he stood and called
to them, saying, " Hear ye !"

The girls said, "Let us listen ; the man is calling after
us."

The man said, " I ate your meat."

The girls replied, " Oh, dear ! we have been keeping
company with a bad man — a very bad man ; he ate all our
meat."

So they went home and saluted their people.

The end.

The Story of the Coney.

It came to pass on a certain day that the coney was
•living in the bush, and was eating grass. He got up and
went and stayed in a certain village.

On a certain day he said, " I am desirous of taking a
girl to wife."

The people agreed, saying, " Take her ; but you must first
go and show your skill in hunting game."

So the coney agreed, saying, " It is meet that I should
first go and hunt game before I take the girl."

He went off to hunt game, and at length arrived in the
forest. There he saw a garden of millet. He went into
the garden and ate all the millet. He was filled, and went
to the river and drank water. Then he went away home
and saw a person.

He said to this person, " Go to your garden yonder ; I
came upon dogs eating your millet." The coney arrived at
the village.

The people said to him, " How are you so full ?"

The coney said, " I am full with honey."

But the people said, " Let us go and see our garden of
millet." They also said, " You must go with us to see it
also."

H 2

1 oo Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

The coney answered and said, " Nay, I am not desirous
of going with you."

But the people said, " You must go and exercise your
skill on behalf of your mother-in-law."

The coney replied, " I am very tired."

The people said, " Nonsense ! Let us go and watch with
your mother-in-law." So he went with them.

They went on and came to the garden, and saw that
the footprints were like those of the coney. They said,
" Who was treading here? It was thou, coney."

The coney denied, saying, " It was not I."

The people said, " Why do you deny it, seeing that the
footprints are the same as your own ?"

The coney answered, " I came upon dogs eating the
millet, and I drove them out."

Then there started forth one of the girls and affirmed,
saying, "It was thyself who ate our mother's millet. Why
do you deny it ? At home we asked thee, saying, ' How
art thou so full, coney ? ' But thou denied, saying, ' I am
full with honey.' Thou merely deniest it, but thou didst
eat our millet."

All the people said, " Bad son-in-law, it is so ; but go
thou and drive out the wild cats that are living in our tree
yonder, where we wish to eat fruit."

So the coney went away, saying, " As for me, when I
arrive at the tree, how shall I drive out the wild cats, for
they are very fierce ? " So he went on, weeping.

At length he arrived at the tree, and considered how he
might catch the young wild cats.

He shouted to the young cats, " Hear, ye young cats !
Here is honey ; send out your father and mother that they
may eat." Thus did the coney, thinking that it was a kind
of poison which, if they ate it, would kill them.

So the old cats with their young ones came out of the
tree. They said, " Here is the honey which the coney has
given us." So they ate of the tree (poison), but they came
not upon the fruit.

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. i o i

They said, " Give us the honey that we may eat it." It
was given, and they ate it, and as they ate they found it
contained bitter water.

They asked, " What kind of food is this ? It is like salt."

They ate, and all of them died.

When the coney came upon them he found they were all
dead. He exclaimed, " Just so ! Now I have delivered
myself, because my mother-in-law sent me to drive out the
wild cats."

He then went to his mother-in-law and said, " I have
killed the wild cats. Let us go and see them."

So they all went and came to the place, and found them
even dead. The coney then said, " Give me now my wife,
seeing that I am a man of power, having killed the wild
cats."

They said, " Not so ; thou art a bad man, because thou
didst eat all our millet."

So they drove him away.

The coney went away, nevertheless his heart was full of
anger because they had refused him his wife. He was also
full of sorrow, and he took a rope of bark and bound
(hanged) himself so that he died.

The Story of the Man and the Reed-Buck.

It came to pass, a man was cultivating his garden. He
sowed millet, which sprang up and grew well, and was ripe.
Then came the time for reaping, and he went away to reap
the millet.

It came to pass the next morning that he found his
garden destroyed, for one-half of it was reaped.

Then said the owner of the garden, "Who has reaped
one-half of my garden ? I will go and inquire at my
village."

He came home and inquired, but all there denied having
done so.

I02 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

Then he began to "smell out" a certain person, and said,
" It was thou who reaped my garden."

But this man drank uniuteyu and vomited, so his accuser
paid him in cattle to the number of five.

So the morning after he went to his garden and found it
reaped still more. He "smelt out" another person, and he
also drank tunuteyu, and vomited likewise. He also was
paid five cattle.

Again he went out to his garden and found it still more
reaped. So he " smelt out" all the people, but [they having
drunk iivmteyu and vomited] he took all the goods he
possessed and paid them. There remained only his child-
ren and his wives, these only — his cattle and his goats, and
all his goods, he had parted with in paying the people.

So he said, " I will not do this. I will lie in my garden
and catch the thief"

It came to pass, indeed, that, as he watched, the reed-
buck came and danced in the middle of the garden, saying,
" The people hereabouts reap with a knife, but, as for us,
we reap with the mouth — we reap with the mouth, picking,
picking."

So the man seized the reed-buck, and said, " So, then,
thou hast done away with all my goods. Why so ? Thou
art the thief who hast reaped my garden."

And the reed-buck answered, saying, " Pardon me, father,
and I, even I, will repay you all your goods."

So the man listened, and said, " Well, let us go."

He took a bark-rope, and said, " I will bind thee."

The reed-buck said, " Do not bind me with a bark-rope,
but bind me with a rope of grass instead. If you bind me
with a bark-rope I will break it."

So the man was a fool, and listened to the reed-buck.
He took grass and made a rope, and bound the reed-buck,
and went on his way with it.

And it came to pass that they came to a deep ravine,
and the reed-buck stood and considered, and then, by a
bound, broke the grass rope, clearing the ravine, and land-

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 103

ing on the other side. He laughed greatly at the owner of
the garden, saying, " I have overreached you, by your
taking grass to bind me."

The reed-buck passed on, laughing at the man.

The Story of the Traveller.

He went about among the villages of the people. He
went to one village, and lighted upon the men in the cattle-
fold. He entered the fold, and sat down.

The men said to him, " We see thee." He replied, say-
ing, " Yes."

They asked him, saying, "Where do you come from ?"
to which he answered, " I merely wander about, for no
purpose."

So he saluted them, bidding them adieu, and went out
into the forest. He was afraid of men, and went about in
the woods where there were no villages.

In the morning he went on, and came upon some men
hoeing their gardens. They had beer with them, and,
besides the men in the gardens, there were youths, girls,
and young boys.

He sat down.

They saluted him, saying, " We see thee," to which salu-
tation he responded.

Then he took a hoe, and began to hoe in the garden.
But it so happened that the hoe-handle was broken.

He exclaimed, " Oh, dear ! the handle of the hoe is
broken."

But so did he act on purpose, for he was coveting the
hoe.

Then he spoke to the owners of the hoe, saying, " The
handle of the hoe is broken; give me an axe, and I will go
into the wood and form another handle."

They gave him an axe, and he took it, together with the
hoe, and went away to cut a stick and to make a handle.
He went on, cutting as he went, the owners not knowing

1 04 Folk-lo7'e Tales of Central Africa.

that he was going away, but thinking that, as they heard
the sound of hewing trees, he was indeed working.

He continued doing so, cutting sticks as he went ; he
went off with the hoe and the axe.

At length the people heard no more the sound of cutting
trees, for he had gone far into the forest, and had run away
with the hoe.

They were surprised when they found that he had gone
out of sight, like the setting sun.

Then the people said to each other, " This man has de-
ceived us."

They quarrelled among themselves thereupon, but the
man he continued to go beyond them.

As he went on, he lighted upon a village in the forest,
where there resided an old woman and her children, to-
gether with the cattle, sheep, and goats, which the children
tended.

So he said, " Grandmother, I wish to stay with thee
here."

The old woman agreed, as also did her children.

So he remained in that place for the space of five days.

One day he said to the old woman, " Let us play."

The old woman replied, " I will play with thee."

So he said, " Take water, and bring it with a very big
pot, and I will show thee."

The old woman brought water and a big pot.

He got firewood and made a large fire, and put the pot
on the hearth, and poured the water into it.

When the water was warm, he said, " Now I will go
into the water; and when I say, 'Grandmother, pull me
out,' you must pull me out at once. Then you will go into
the pot, and when you say, 'My child, pull me out!' I will
pull thee out at once."

So did he, day after day, and the grandmother did so
too.

But it happened on a certain day that he said, " I will
kill this old woman."

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 1 05

So when the cattle, sheep, and goats had gone out to
pasture, he made water warm in the pot. He himself
began the play by going into the water.

He said, "Grandmother, pull me out!"

She pulled him out.

Then the old woman entered the water.

She cried, " My child, pull me out!"

But the traveller waited, and the water became so hot
as to burn. The old woman continued to cry, "My child,
pull me out."

He said, " Nay, grandmother ; it is broth."

She said, " Oh, dear ! you might pull me out."

He again said, " It is broth; I do not want to pull you
out."

So he did, and killed the grandmother.

Then he took the flesh and cooked porridge. He
cooked much porridge, and took it upon his head to the
children.

The children returned, and he brought them the flesh
and porridge. They ate of it.

There was there a young child, who spoke out, saying,
" I have eaten the big toe of our mother."

But the elder children rebuked him, saying, " It is not
that of our mother. Do you want another [toe] ?"

Thereupon the young child affirmed strongly, saying,
" Indeed, it is."

They ate and finished the food.

The young child re-affirmed, " I have eaten the big toe
of our mother."

Now the traveller rose up, and said, " My child, I am
going into the forest, but I will return again."

When he had gone some distance, he turned round, and
said, " I have killed your grandmother ; ye have eaten
her flesh."

Then the young boy said, " Did I not tell you, but ye
listened not, but rebuked me for saying it ?"

They all cried, and lamented sorely.

io6 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

It is so when you bring in a man who is not known, but
who, in his wandering about, only looks to steal the things
of the people.

The Story of Tangalemilingo.

There went out some boys to hunt game.

It came to pass when they reached the forest, that they
came upon game in abundance. They hunted and killed
much game, including coneys, reed-buck, guinea-fowl
partridge, and bush-buck.

And they said, " Let us go to our resting-place, and
there prepare the meat."

So they arrived, and sat down there.

There came also to the place where they were, other
people, who were hunters likewise. They all remained in
one place ; they cut firewood, and made a fire.

Then came a leopard and snatched up part of the reed-
buck meat which they had.

Thereupon the men spread themselves out, in order to
hunt the leopard. Meanwhile, there came an eland, which
ate all the game.

So when the men had pursued the leopard without
success, they decided to return.

When they arrived at the resting-place, they found all
the game gone.

They said, " The meat is eaten by whom ?"

They searched very diligently, but they found no one.
There remained behind one young person only.

And it came to pass, when they were searching for the
game, that an eland came down and ate the young
person.

The men having failed to find the man who took the
game, returned, and found the young person amissing
This young person had a knife in a sheath on his arm.

When they found the child gone, they sought for him
but found him not.

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 107

Then they said, " Let us go home, now that the child is
gone amissing, and since some people have taken our
game. We have not seen the child, nor the person who
took him."

So they started off, and went home.

As they were nearing their village, they cried loudly,
making a song, saying :

"We will report Tangalemilingo ;
They have taken him.
He has been taken by the water-people.
Cock, thou art a fowl, a fowl merely,
We will be killed.

We will report Tangalemilingo, Tangalemilingo,
They have taken him.
He has been taken by the water-people.
Cock, thou art a fowl, a fowl merely."

So they arrived home.

But there was Tangalemilingo. When he saw that he
was in the eland's stomach, he drew out his knife, and cut
the eland's stomach in two.

So he escaped, the eland not killing him. So now no
man kills the eland, as at one time it was Tangalemilingo.

Then Tangalemilingo also made a song, saying :

•' Believe ye, believe ye,
He who disappeared, drinks the children's milk.
He walks on the paths,
He stands at the gate."

So he arrived at his home, and the women were very
glad, and rejoiced. They sang songs, and killed cattle to
praise [the spirit] who had brought out the child.

io8 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

The Story of the Doings of Cakide.

It happened that Cakide was going about seeking food.
He failed to find it.

He said, " See, the game is all very large, and as for me,
I am much smaller than all ; even the coney is larger than
I. So, then, how can I catch game ? I am much smaller
than all the beasts, and I will therefore die of hunger.
Where shall I go ? Ah ! I will go to the homes of people
and search for fowls, and eat their flesh and be filled."

Having considered thus, he went to the villages of the
people, and came upon one which was outside, separated
from the others, where there were no bushes, but where there
were many fowls. He heard the hens cackling when they
laid eggs, and the cocks crowing.

He said, " Ha, ha ! there they go ! This village is in an
open place, and how shall I catch the fowls ? Let me go
and seek another village."

So he went and searched for another village, and found
one, but it also was in an open place, and all the fowls
remained hid in the village.

Cakide wondered greatly, and said, " Is it really thus ?
Just so ! I will see where there is a village with bushes
around it."

He went on and on, and at length a cock crowed. He
said, " Here a cock is crowing."

He remained quiet, and again the cock crowed. So he
went in the direction of the sound, and came where the cock
was. The village was surrounded by bushes, and so Cakide
was happy, and said, " Now I will catch these fowls easily."

In that village there was a very great number of fowls.
He went on the path and lay down there. The fowls now
approached him. Cakide trembled, and the fowls were
affrighted, and fled into the village and entered their houses.

Cakide wondered greatly, and said, " After this I will take

Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa. 109

care not to tremble, for when I am shaking the fowls run
away."

So Cakide fell upon a device, and lay down, feigning
death, and opening wide his mouth so that he might seize
the fowls in an instant, they not having time to cry out.

So Cakide did so, and feigned to be dead. The fowls
came nearer and nearer, picking corn on the path, and
Cakide was very still. As they approached nearer he
seized a cock in his mouth, holding it tightly in an instant.
It did not cry out.

So he went off with the fowl, and ate it and was filled.
He said to himself, " See now, before this I was dying of
hunger, but to-day I am full. The fowls are many, and I
will now grow fat and grow big."

He finished eating the fowl.

And the owners of the fowls began to wonder that their
fowls were disappearing. They spoke about it to their
children, who said, " We do not know, we never heard them
crying out, and we know not what is eating them up.
When they are going in that direction we have seen them
flying away. Perhaps there are people who are beating
them."

The children further said to the old people, " Lie ye at
all the paths yonder, so that ye may see what is doing away
with your fowls."

So the old people did so, according to the word of the
children.

At length Cakide came, and the people continued hid
while he came near to them. Cakide then lay down and
appeared as if dead.

The people said, " There goes the evil person who has
made away with our fowls."

Cakide heard their words, and ran away, for the people
were coming upon him.

Then they took dogs and sent them after him. The
dogs ran after him, overtook him, and seized him. Cakide
cried greatly.

no Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa.

Then came the people, saying, " So then, old rascal, you
have done away with our fowls."

So they danced around him. The children danced
around him, saying, " Did we not tell you ? now ye have
caught him. There is the rascal ; ye have caught him."
The young men also came around, and the old men and
girls, together with all the women, young and old, and they
ridiculed him greatly.

When they had done thus, they killed him. He died
on account of his thieving, for there was no one to deliver
him.

D. Elmslie.

REPORT ON FOLK-TALE RESEARCH,

1890-91.

Tradiiio?is, Coiiiumes, Legefides et Cotttes des Ardennes compares
avec les Traditions, Legendes et Contes de divers Pays, par
Albert Meyrac. Charleville : Imprimerie du Petit Ardennais,
1890.

Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians^ Western Slavs, and
Magyars, by Jeremiah Curtin. London : Sampson Low, 1890.

Dt'e Geschichte von den Sieben Weisen bei den Slaven, von Dr. M.
Murko. Vienna : F. Tempsky, 1890.

Les Contes populaires du Poitou, par Leon Pineau. Paris :
E. Leroux, 1891.

Volksmdrchen aus Pommern nnd Riigejt, gesammelt und heraus-
gegeben von Dr. Ulrich Jahn. Erster Teil. Norden and
Leipzig: Diedr. Soltau, 1891,

Riigensche Sagen und Mdrchen, gesammelt und herausgegeben
von Dr. A, Haas. Greifswald : Ludwig Bamberg, 1891.

Waifs a7id Strays of Celtic Tradition. Argyllshire Series,
No. III. Folk and Hero Tales. Collected, edited, translated,
and annotated by the Rev. J. MacDougall. With an Intro-
duction by Alfred Nutt. London : D. Nutt, 1891.
, Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. Argyllshire Series,
No. IV. The Fians, or Stories, Poems, and Traditions oj
Fionn and his Warrior Band, collected entirely from oral
sources by John Gregorson Campbell, minister of Tiree.
With Introduction and Bibliographical Notes by Alfred Nutt.
London : D. Nutt, 1891.
The Women of Turkey attd their Folk-Lore, by Lucy M. Garnett.
With concluding chapters on the Origin of Matriarchy by
John S. Stuart-Glennie, M.A. The Jewish and Moslem
Women. London: D. Nutt, 1891.

Saggio di Novelline, Catiti ed Usatize popolari delta Ciociaria,
per cura del Dott. Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti. Palermo :
Carlo Clausen, 1891.
, The Folk-lore of the Isle of Man, being an account of its Myths,
Legends, Superstitions, Customs, and Proverbs, by A. W.
Moore, I\LA. London : D. Nutt, 1891.

112 Report on Folk-tale Research.

12. Le Surnaturel dans les Conies poptilatres, par Charles Ploix.

Paris : E. Leroux, 1891.

13. DOrigifie des Conies populaires Europeens et les Theories de

M. Lang. Memoire prdsente au Congres des Traditions
populaires de 1889 par Emmanuel Cosquin. Paris : Biblio-
theque des Annales feconomiques, 1891.

14. La Cunio de It Cujtii {II Pentamerone) di Giambattista Basile :

testo conforme alia prima stampa del 1634-6, con Introduzione
e Note di Benedetto Croce. Vol. I. Naples, 1891.

15. Mann und Fuchs. Drei vergleichende Marchenstudien von

Kaarle Krohn. Helsingfors : J. C. Frenckel, 1891.

16. Celiic Fairy Tales, selected and edited by Joseph Jacobs.

London : D. Nutt, 1892.

TO attempt an account of research in any department
of Folk-lore during the past year without including
the Congress of London must be to omit the most import-
ant item. This is especially true of the department of
Folk-tales, where the problems yet awaiting solution were
re-stated and keenly discussed from almost every point of
view. But impressions carried away from a meeting in
which scientific questions have been debated, whatever the
impulse they may give to further inquiry, are not to be
implicitly trusted as records of value ; and, until Mr. Jacobs
and the Committee over which he presides shall give us
the volume containing the official report, no definite esti-
mate can be formed of the work really done.

It is only during the last few months that the official
report of the Congress at Paris has appeared. An interest-
ing volume it is, and one likely to call forth many regrets
on the part of English students that, from the time of
year at which it was held, they were unable to take part in
its deliberations. On the subject of folk-tales it contains
several papers, the most important of them being a criticism
by M. Cosquin of Mr. Andrew Lang's theories so far as
they relate to the origin of European stories. This paper,
which has been re-issued as a separate pamphlet, is in effect

Report on Folk-tale Research. 113

a summary of M. Cosquin's answer to the anthropological
school.

M. Cosquin begins by defining his position as regards
Mr. Lang. The latter, he says, studies the stories chiefly
from the psychological point of view. His researches are
directed to discovering what may have given birth to the
ideas, more or less grotesque, which constitute the elements
of the stories. He is thus rather occupied with the ideas
than the tales into which they are wrought. M. Cosquin's
own point of view is quite different. He only inquires
whether it be possible to discover w^hence all these tales,
common to the European nations, have obtained their
actual form. Not troubling himself about the origin of
the materials — the different elements which have entered
into the fabrication of this or that type of the tale — he
takes the finished fabric, and, finding it everywhere, with
its characteristic combinations, he asks himself if there has
not been somewhere a great centre of production — a great
factory which has been able, thanks to favouring circum-
stances, to palm off its wares on well-nigh the whole
world. To M. Cosquin the mint-mark of this great factory is
visible on all its productions ; and his quarrel with Mr. Lang
is that the latter neglects it in favour of general ideas.
The factory itself, as we know, M. Cosquin places in India ;
,and he re-argues his thesis with an ability and determina-
tion that must compel his opponents to hear him and to
consider the arguments he advances.

Professor Kaarle Krohn read also at Paris an exposition
of his late father, M. Jules Krohn's method of investigating
the provenance of folk-tales. An abstract of this ex-
position appears by way of introduction to his study of
the fable of the fox who helps a man out of danger from
another animal and is repaid with ingratitude, and of the
fable of the man who hides a fox, or hare, from his
pursuers and denies in words that he has seen him, but
.makes signs disclosing his whereabouts. Prof Krohn, like
JM. Cosquin, pleads for the folk-tale as itself an independ-

VOL. III. I

1 1 4 Report on Folk-tale Research,

ent subject of science. Separating from the tale, for the
sake of perspicuity, all the episodes and other extrinsic
elements, he deals with every separate adventure consist-
ing of a single complication and resolution. He collects
and compares the variants — that is to say, all the adven-
tures presenting the same complication and the same
solution ; and by doing so he believes that he is able to
trace the tale back along its line of march, and ultimately
to discover its birthplace. The assumption underlying
this process is, that adventures in which the complication
alone, or the resolution alone, is the same, may perchance
be due to the homogeneity of human thought ; but that
a double chance — that in which the complication and the
resolution are the same — is out of the question. Neither
M. Jules Krohn nor his son, the learned Professor, agrees
with M. Cosquin in fathering all folk-tales upon the Bud-
dhist imagination. On the contrary. Prof. Krohn says
expressly : " Stories are the product of the activity of the
genius of one people, whether Indian or Egyptian, as little
as our culture is due to one nation or to one race ; rather
they are common property, acquired by the united labour
of the whole world, more civilised and less civilised alike.'
At the end of a minute inquiry into the three storie:!
comprised in his Mann und Fuchs, he comes to the con-
clusion that one of the three belongs to the Northern,
cycle of Beast-tales, the second comes from a jackal-tale
invented in Egypt, and the third is a fable belonging tc
that body of Greek literature which has descended to us
under the name of yEsop. Prof. Krohn's study is worthy
of close attention, both for its method and its results.

Both M. Cosquin and Prof. Krohn are empiricist in their
treatment of folk-tales : the latter openly and avowedly so
the former against his will and by the necessities of his
theory. For it is a theory with this disadvantage for an
advocate, that the history of every individual tale must be
investigated, and the investigation must penetrate to its
very roots. No amount of proof that a given number of

Report on Folk-tale Research. 1 1 5

stories have issued from India will prove — nor even raise
a presumption — that a single story outside that number is
due to the same origin. M. Cosquin divides his arguments
into arguments extrinsic, or historical, and arguments in-
trinsic, or those which deal with certain traits of the
stories. These traits reflect the ideas and practices of
India ; and M. Cosquin values the intrinsic arguments so
highly, that he contends that the true argument against
the Indian origin of folk-tales would be to show that they
are in contradiction with the ideas prevalent in India ; but
this proof, he declares triumphantly, will never be forth-
coming. That this proof will never be forthcoming may
safely be said ; but M. Cosquin's triumph will be prema-
ture if it turn out that the ideas and practices reflected in
the tales are not peculiar to India, but common to man-
kind. It will then be necessary for him to go on a fresh
errand, for the purpose of tracing these ideas and practices
back to their cradle in India. This is a contingency the
distinguished author of the Contes popiilaires de la Lor-
raine does not appear to have contemplated : but nothing
less than this, it need hardly be said, is the theory of the
anthropological, or, if M. Cosquin prefers, the psycho-
logical, school. To set aside the intrinsic arguments thus,
throws the burden of proof upon the extrinsic, or his-
torical, arguments. The intrinsic arguments are, indeed,
an excursus into the region M. Cosquin assigns especially
to Mr. Lang, and to recall him to the historical arguments
is to restore him to his own province. Here, however, he
is deprived of the presumption arising from the intrinsic
arguments, and the history of each particular tale has no
avail beyond it.

M. Ploix's little book is an expansion of a paper also
read at the Congress of Paris. To speak frankly, it is a
disappointing work. It may be perfectly true, as M. Ploix
declares, that the foundation of the narrative in our old
folk-tales is the description of a natural phenomenon,
namely, the break of day after its imprisonment in the

I 2

I 1 6 Report on Folk-tale Research,

night ; but at least we are entitled to some arguments to
that effect. It is the more incumbent on the author to give
some sort of proof of his position, since he admits that his
theory is " nowadays completely out of fashion". Instead
of doing this, he confines himself to a simple exposition of
the mythical tales — as distinguished from the apologues
and the drolls — in Grimm's collection, from the point of
view of the sun-myth. Eloquent and ingenious his expo-
sition often is, but convincing he hardly seeks to be. This
is to be regretted, because so little has been attempted
by any partisan of the theory identified with the names
of Professor Max Miiller and the Count de Gubernatis in
the way of reply to the attacks made upon it during the
last ten or fifteen years. The consequence of this per-
sistent abstention from polemic has been that the theory
has become discredited, perhaps beyond its deserts ; and
many students would welcome, in the interests of scientific
truth, a thoroughly searching examination of the conflicting
theories, and an argumentative restatement of the grounds
on which rests the naturalistic system, as M. Ploix calls it,
of explanation of the mythic element in folk-tales. It
seems to me, therefore, that the president of the Soci^te
des Traditions Populaires has missed an opportunity. An
exposition, such as he has written, may have its value to
those who hold with him : a controversial work would
have had a value far beyond that limit ; and coming from
the hands of one so distinguished as M. Ploix, it might
have formed a substantial contribution to the controversy.
Meanwhile the work of collection proceeds. A portion
of M. Meyrac's large and laborious work on the traditions
of the Ardennes is devoted to tales. These, the author
tells us, he gives just as they have been related to him,
without addition or ornament. But it is rarely that he
vouchsafes us the name of the person to whom he is
indebted ; and then it is usually not a man or woman of
the folk, but some instituteur, or institutrice, or com-
mandant de gendarmerie. The impression left upon the

Report on Folk-taie Research. 1 1 7

mind is that his materials have been for the most part
btained at second-hand. This impression may be er-
roneous ; though it is certainly confirmed, not only by the
style of many of the sagas, but also by such opening
phrases as : " Vers la fin du dix-septieme siecle vivait a," —
"Vers I'an 1608 le bon roi Henri IV eut une heureuse
idee," — " Un beau matin de I'an 1777 tout Rethel fut
reveille par un regiment," — and so forth. The Contes
divers — drolls, beast-tales, and incirchen — are generally
better given. Some of them are stated to have been
obtained, directly or indirectly, from school-children ; and
one is transcribed in dialect from the dictation of a story-
teller who repeated it at a veillee in the commune of
Rimogne. In his notes M. Meyrac draws attention to
variants, sometimes in works little known to the English
student.

M. Pineau's Contes populaires du Poitou belongs to the
Collection de Contes et Chansons populaires published at
irregular intervals by Ernest Leroux. It is a small but good
collection of forty-eight stories of various kinds gathered,
as we are told in the Preface, at a little place in the valley
of the Vienne called Lussac-les-Chateaux, from villagers,
some of whom he characterises in a sentence or two of
light but true touches. They ought, however, to have
been credited separately and by name with the stories they
furnished, and the details of their ages, occupations, etc.,
should have been mentioned. When will collectors learn
to do this ?

Dr. Ulrich Jahn has followed up his Volkssagen aus
Pontmern und Riigen, and his other services to the study of
the folk-life of Pomerania, by the first instalment of a
collection of Volksmdrchen aus Poinmern und Riigen.
Having in view the attack made upon him by Dr. Veck-
enstedt, it is natural first to turn to his Introduction in
order to ascertain what he has to say about the persons
from whom he gets his tales, and his mode of collection.
And it is impossible to read many of his interesting pages

ii8 Report on Folk-tale Research.

without feeling that one is in the presence of an experienced
and sincere folk-lorist. His paragraphs are too long to
quote ; but they are well worthy of study by everyone who
desires either himself to undertake the task of collection, or
to appreciate the difficulties and the pleasures of the work
wherein others are engaged, and to learn how to dis-
tinguish the true collection from the sham, MlircJien, as
he rightly says, are much harder to gather than any other
kind of folk-lore — or at least any other kind of folk-tales ;
and the stories contained in the volume before us, unlike
many of those in his Volkssagen, are given direct from the
mouth of the people. All but two of them were taken
down by himself. It is to be regretted, especially after
Dr. Veckenstedt's charges, that Dr. Jahn has not thought
proper to name the persons to whom he is indebted for
them. This is a course that, I think, has never been taken
in Germany, but the sooner it is begun the better. In the
notes are to be found abstracts of variants, some of which
are already in print. The stories in the text are well told,
and bear the usual marks of popular narration. The
Introduction contains, in addition to the remarks I have
just referred to, some very instructive observations on the
subject-matter and form of the tales, the relation between
oral narratives in verse and prose — between singing and
saying — and the changes undergone by the tales from time
to time in the mouths of the folk. In the latter connection
Dr. Jahn gives an instance of the transformations suffered
by the story of Aladdin, learnt by heart by a servant-girl
from an abridgment of the Arabian Nights, and from her
by an accomplished reciter in her native village. When the
author heard it from this man, nearly a generation later, it
was in process of becoming a folk-tale once more, but not
without adaptations to its new environment. Aladdin, the
dirty, disobedient boy, for example, had been made into a
red-haired, godless. Simple Simon of a fellow, who could
neither read nor write, nor repeat even the Lord's Prayer
correctly. The enchanted garden where the fruits were

Report on Folk-tale Research. 1 1 9

precious stones had become the Venus-garden of German
folk-lore. And the roc's egg {Rochet) had been hatched
into a King Reckei, whose hanging in the dome of his
palace the hero was made to demand.

Dr. Haas' collection includes both sagas and mdrchen,
but relates only to the island of Rligen. A large part, but
not the whole, of the tales has been obtained from verbal
communication, some having been already printed by
Arndt, Temme, Jahn, Kuhn, and others. In an appendix
Dr. Haas discusses the Hertha-saga localised on the island.
He shows that it is unknown to the earliest topographers.
The first writer who identifies the insula oceani mentioned
by Tacitus with Rligen is Philipp Kliiver in a work en-
titled Gennania Anttqua, published at Leyden in 16 16. The
hill and lake now called Herthaburg and Herthasee re-
spectively were always known under the names of Borg-
wall and Borgsee, or the Black Lake, until about eighty or
ninety years ago ; and Dr. Haas attributes the change to
the influx of strangers which began early in the present
century. The weird sagas relating to the spot have grown
up doubtless in response to the demands of these strangers,
though they now appear to be thoroughly domiciled among
the folk of Rugen. It affords me special satisfaction to
mention this here for the purpose of correcting any im-
pression which may have been conveyed to the minds of
readers of FOLK-LORE by a reference on page 2 14 of vol. i,
to Hertha's manifestations at the Black Lake. I may add,
however, that the reasoning, whether of the article contain-
ing the reference, or in the more complete and permanent
shape it subsequently assumed, would appear to be un-
touched, though one of its most picturesque illustrations is
torn away.

The Saggio di Novelline, Canti ed Usanze popolari delta
Ciociaria, by Dr. Targioni-Tozzetti, contains, among other
folk-lore, twenty-nine tales of various kinds — inarchen,
legends of the saints, apologues, and drolls. Many of the
tales are interesting for themselves ; and to each one is

1 20 Report on Folk-tale Research.

appended the name of the relater — in many cases, women
— but rarely any further particulars. The volume is dedi-
cated to Dr. Pitre, under whose editorship it is published as
the tenth volume of his Curiositd popolari Tradiziojiali.

Mr. Curtin has committed the fault of which Miss Hod-
getts was guilty in her Tales and Legejids ft'oin the Land of
the Tzar, noticed in my last report ; and it is the less
excusable in a gentleman who dates his Introduction from
the Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology, and who
may therefore be presumed to write in an accurate and
scientific spirit. His book consists of translations from
Russian, Bohemian, and Magyar sources. But spirited as
the translation is, and useful as it is to English students to
have versions of these Slav and Magyar tales, it is annoying
to have to find out for oneself whence the stories are taken,
instead of being frankly told ; and for a student's purpose
the omission detracts from the value of the book. Two of
the Russian stories have been already put before the
English reader by the late Mr. Ralston, namely, " The
Footless and Blind Champions", and " Marya Morevna" ;
the latter is also in Miss Hodgetts' volume. " Vasilissa
the Cunning and the Tsar of the Sea" is apparently a
variant of the tale given by Ralston as the " Water King
and Vasilissa the Wise" ; and the same relation seems to
exist between " Ivan Tsarevich, the Fire Bird, and the
Grey Wolf of Mr. Curtin and Miss Hodgetts' "Grey
Wolf and the Golden Cassowary". I have not traced any
of the Bohemian tales ; but the Magyar tale of " Mirko the
King's Son" is included in Jones and Kropf s Folk-tales of
the Magyars^ published a year or two since by this Society.
As the total number of stories in the volume is thirty-one,
the proportion of duplicates with those previously in our
hands is thus only a small one.

The tales Miss Garnett has to tell in her Women of
Ttirkey are, like those in the previous volume noticed last
year, translations of stories previously in print, and not
collected by her. They are hardly the less welcome to

Report on Folk-tale Research. 121

many English students on that account, as the sources from
which they are derived are little known here, and Miss
Garnett deserves our thanks for drawing our attention to
them. But she has unaccountably failed to name her
authority for some of the tales, as for example the tale of
the pastoicrjnd 3.nd several of the delightful Jewish stories
which follow it.

Mr. Gomme has already dealt with Mr. Stuart-Glennie's
concluding chapters ; and it would be impertinent of me
to take up space here in replying to the controversial
observations upon statements of mine, which appear in-
cidentally in Mr. Stuart-Glennie's exposition of his theory
on Matriarchy. I think it right only to protest against his
assumption that " the Hypothesis of Spontaneous Origin-
ation", with which he does me the honour to credit me in
common with Mr. Andrew Lang, has received " the collec-
tive imprimatur of the Folk-lore Society". I am a little in
the dark as to what the Society's " collective imprimatur"
may be in this connection ; but if it be intended to imply
that the Society, as such, is committed to what I have
ventured to call the Anthropological Theory,and Mr. Jacobs
the Casual Theory, of the origin of folk-tales, then let me
assure Mr. Stuart-Glennie that he is entirely mistaken.
The Society has never expressed any opinion on the sub-
ject. It consists of members holding a wide diversity of
opinions, most, if not all, of which are represented on the
Council ; and any expression of a collective opinion on this
or any other subject in controversy would in the present
state of our scientific knowledge be much to be regretted.
Mr. Stuart-Glennie need, therefore, have no hesitation in
marshalling the evidence in support of his own hypothesis :
the sooner he does so, the sooner he will have the chance of
converting us all. But until the evidence be forthcoming
he must not blame us for being deaf to the voice of the
charmer.

I have left to the last a group of collections of Celtic
tales, three of them local collections, and the fourth of a

122 Report on Folk-tale Research.

more general character. Mr. Moore's little book is valuable
because it is the first attempt made during scientific times
to gather together the folk-lore of the Isle of Man, The
author possesses the first requisite for success in collecting
and collating folk-lore — a genuine enthusiasm ; and his
materials are put together with judgment. In another
edition (if, as we may hope, another edition be called for)
he should give chapter and verse for his references to
printed books, where he only gives us now " Train",
" Waldron", etc., and the names and other details of the
correspondents and informants to whom he has been in-
debted for the remaining talcs and accounts of customs and
superstitions. Mr, Moore's local and personal knowledge
might also be made available in other ways. For instance,
it would be useful to put on record the name of the lady in
whose possession the Cup of Ballafletcher now is, and who
was so kind as to allow Mr. Moore to have a photograph
of it taken for exhibition at the Congress. Tangible and
material proof of the truth of a folk-tale is not to be obtained
everywhere. " The Buggane of St. Trinian's," given from
Train, is a variant of Mr, Jacobs' tale of "The Sprightly
Tailor", related in some respects with even more dramatic
force. The introductory remarks on previous collectors
and on the costume and mode of life of the inhabitants of
the island will be useful to the student.

I have indulged in such a monotone of grumbling at the
want of precision on the part of collectors in indicating
their authorities that it will be a relief to any readers who
have had the patience to follow me thus far, as it certainly
is a pleasure to me, to meet at length with a collection
really fulfilling scientific requirements in this respect.
The Rev. J. MacDougall's Folk and Hero Tales, ten in
number, were all obtained from one man, Alexander
Cameron, "a native of Ardnamurchan, who was then
roadman between Duror and Ballachulish". But, not
satisfied with hearing them from him, Mr, MacDougall went
further. He inquired the names of the persons from whom

Report on Folk-tale Research. 1 2 3

Cameron had heard them, who they were, whence they
came, and when they told the tales ; he satisfied himself as
to the power of Cameron's memory, and finally made in-
vestigations which convinced him that the stories were
generally known as folk-tales in Argyllshire and the neigh-
bourhood. They come to us, therefore, with credentials of
an unexceptionable character; and they are given not only
in English but also in their original Gaelic, for whom it
may concern. The importance of accuracy, such as Mr.
MacDougall displays, is insisted on in a vigorous passage of
Mr. Alfred Nutt's Introduction to the volume before us. I
take leave to quote the passage in full, not only for its own
qualities, but because I am happy to shelter my pertinacity
on this point beneath the authority of one who cannot be
accused of being insensible to any literary charm that may
distinguish stories valueless for scientific purposes. He
says : — " At a comparatively early stage of the study the
searcher after facts as facts came to see the importance of
getting them in the most genuine form obtainable. This,
too, has been set down to his innate pedantry. And yet a
moment's reflection shows that, important as a rigorous
and accurate method is to him, it is yet more important to
the student who values folk-lore as the expression of what
is most essential and intimate in the consciousness of a
race. If by its means we can indeed diagnose the spiritual
and intellectual temper of mankind before it has been
transformed and levelled by modern culture, is it not
absolutely necessary that the diagnosis should be based
upon ascertained fact ? Yet, strange to say, men who pro-
fess the most enthusiastic sympathy for the ' folk', are
content to ground their enthusiasm upon material which
has as much claim to be called ' folk-lore' as the majority
of circulating-library novels. Stranger still, this particular
form of cant is always sure of outside countenance, and the
writers are many to bewail as dreadful or shocking the
desire for accurate knowledge of folk-lore, and the refusal
to indulge in pretty but unmeaning generalities."

124 Report on Folk-tale Research.

Four of the ten stories given by Mr. MacDougall belong
to the Fian — or Fenian — cycle. The whole of its com-
panion volume, by the late (alas that we have to write
late !) Rev. J. G. Campbell of Tiree, is devoted to the same
cycle. Several of the stories preserved by the latter are
found in verse, some of them only in verse. Of some of
the stones abstracts alone are given. Nor has Mr. Camp-
bell authenticated all with the names of the tellers,
though he is fully alive to the necessity of presenting them
to the reader " uncooked", as he expresses it. But there is
no reason to doubt that they are truly traditional and a
contribution of value to students of folk-lore in general, as
well as of Celtic literature, narrated as they are both in
English and Gaelic. It is a great pity that Celtic anti-
quaries cannot agree upon one form for their heroes*^
names, at least when intended for the English reader.
Erse and Gaelic seem to have departed, even further than
English, if that be possible, from a rational, phonetic
system of spelling. The consequence is that we have their
proper names in almost every conceivable shape. For ex-
ample, in this one volume the chief hero appears in the
English portions as Fionn Mac Cumhail, Fion Mac Cum-
hail, Fionn Mac Cumal, Finn Mac Cumal, Fionn Mac-
Coul, Fin-mac-Coul, Fionn, Finn, Fin, and Fingal. How-
many transformations he undergoes in the Gaelic portion
I cannot, of course, undertake to say. I believe, however,
the above list by no means exhausts the forms which this
one name has been known to assume ; and it is anything
but unique in this respect.

Mr. Alfred Nutt's Introduction deals chiefly with Prof.
Zimmer's new theory identifying the heroes of the Ossianic
cycle (a better expression than Fenian, or Fian, cycle) with
the Vikings. To readers who claim no special familiarity
with Irish history and literature, and who regard the ques-
tions raised by Prof. Zimmer merely as they affect the
science of tradition in general, Mr. Nutt's arguments appear
to carry great weight. Personally, I utterly disbelieve the

Report on Folk-tale Research. 125

possibility of recovering from the Ossianic narratives any-
historical facts at all corresponding to the details of the
legends, just as I disbelieve in the possibility of recovering
the traits of the historical Arthur, if there ever were such a
being, or the events of the Trojan war, if there ever were
such an expedition. The names of Achilles, of Arthur,
and of Fin-mac-Coul are purely mythic. They have
gathered about themselves the floating traditions of the
tribe or nation which held them in reverence, and all its
glory has settled on their heads. All over the world may
be observed this tendency of one great name to absorb the
splendours with which the mythopceic faculty of a people
having a consciousness of common origin or common
interest fills the unrecorded past. It has created many a
national epic ; it has inspired many a national movement ;
it has formed a bond linking together many a scattered
and down-trodden nationality and preserving it until the
favourable moment of its regeneration. But it by no
means follows that this great name has ever belonged to a
live human hero, still less that the acts attributed to him
were ever performed. Professor Zimmer builds something
on the etymology of the words Fin or Fene and Fiann.
We who have seen these words wrested in another sense
are hardly likely to attach much importance to derivations
of so doubtful a character. The learned professor may be
a professional philologist, in which case it would become us
to make such remarks with bated breath ; but until even
professional philologists accustom themselves to make their
guesses a little less positively than many of them still do,
we can afford to bow politely at their assertions and wait
for proof

Mr, Jacobs' Celtic Fairy Tales is a companion volume to
the English Fairy Tales noticed in last year's Report,
equally delightful to children of larger or smaller growth.
Mr. Jacobs well says that he has again to rejoice in the co-
operation of his artist-friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, whose illus-
trations are among the few that can be described as really

126 Report on Folk-tale Rcscajxh.

illuminating a book of fairy-tales. Of the six-and-tvventy
stories comprised within these pale-green covers only two
arc new to print, both reported by Mr. Alfred Nutt from
the late Mr. D. W. Logic's recitation. Of one of these —
" Andrew Coffey" — Mr. Jacobs knows of no parallels but
two Irish tales. The other is a variant of "Big Peter
and Little Peter", with Big Peter magnified into the firm
of Hudden and Dudden. In this form the story is not
common, and it has never been reported from Wales in
any shape. It may be interesting, therefore, to students
to learn that Professor Rhys, as he informs me, remembers
hearing it in his boyhood from a farm-servant near Devil's
Bridge, in North Cardiganshire. There were two rich
brothers in the story, corresponding with Hudden and
Dudden, and when the cunning poor man, answering to
Donald in Mr. Logic's version, had thrown one of them
into the water, bubbles rose above the spot. The other
brother asked : " What is he doing ? " " Picking out the
fattest sheep," replied the cunning fellow. " Then throw
me in quick ! " And thrown in he accordingly was.

Mr. Jacobs has abridged the famous mabinogi of
"Kilhwch and Olwen". In the Mabifiogion itself this
story always presents itself to me as only half developed.
The earlier half is told fully ; the latter is no more than
an abstract. If the romancer has painted at full length
Olwen's wooing, he has greatly foreshortened an important
part of it. The demand for her hand and all that led up to
the popping of that question, and the laborious gathering of
the champions to hunt the mythic boar, are related in detail,
but the hunt itself is cut short. Now so many traces re-
main in Wales of the incidents of the hunt, localised here
and there, that I can hardly think the story was always
curtailed in this fashion. And what a tale it must have
been in the mouths of the old professional bards ! If we
could have had it as they told it there is not a folk-tale in
the world that would have equalled it.

The student will naturally turn to Mr. Jacobs' notes,

Report on Folk-tale Research. 1 2 7

both to read his confessions of "adaptation", and to learn
the results of his researches. The most interesting of the
latter is undoubtedly his investigation of the Gelert legend,
and the time and manner in which it became localised at
Beddgelert. He seems, indeed, to have solved this latter
question, and shown that the local tradition is less
than a hundred years old, and is of literary origin — a
parallel to the Hertha tradition on the isle of Rugen. The
fable, however, must have been widely known in Wales
during the Middle Ages, of which the Warwick roll is a
very singular and, if genuine, conclusive piece of evidence.
I do not lay any stress on the place-names mentioned
by Croker in the passage quoted by Mr. Jacobs, though it
is possible they may owe their origin to the story. But
the fact of its adoption into the arms of the Principality, as
evidenced by the Warwick roll, implies much more than
wide dissemination. It must somehow have got identified
wath the national history, or with some event in the family
history of the princes. This is a point that Mr. Jacobs
has failed to clear up. The legend has been localised at
many other places. The instance in the south of France,
mentioned in the Liber de Bonis of Etienne de Bourbon,
which I only know from the account given of it by Prof.
Crane as quoted by Mr. Clouston {Popular Tales and Fic-
tions, vol ii, p. 168), shows that the story had there become
attached to a local non-Christian shrine where rites familiar
to students of folk-lore were performed. The same fable
is related in modern India in more than one form, and the
river Kukrel, near Lucknow, is said, in one of the variants,
to have sprung from the spot where the dog was buried.
The literary genealogy through DolopatJios and The Seven
Wise Masters has received much attention. Probably the
European versions wherein a dog figures as the hero are
to be traced through one or other of these collections.
Even then, however, the questions arising out of the tale
have by no means all been solved. It does not seem to have
been noticed by any of the learned men who have written

128 Report on Folk-tale Research.

upon them that a version quite different from the literary-
versions usually traced back to the Panchatantra or the
Vinaya Pitaka was already localised in Greece in the
second century of our era. Pausanias in his account of
Phocis (I quote for convenience from Thomas Taylor's
translation) says : " From Lilaea there is a road of about
sixty stadia in length, which leads to Amphiclea. The
inhabitants of this place have corrupted the name of the
city ; for Herodotus, following the most ancient reports,
calls it Ophitea ; and the Amphictyons, when a decree
was passed for destroying the cities of the Phocenses, gave
it the name of Ophitea. But the natives relate the follow-
ing particulars concerning this city : A certain powerful
man, suspecting the stratagems of his enemies, placed his
son in a vessel, such as is used for the reception of liquor,
trusting that in this place he would be concealed with
security. A wolf, however, rushed on the boy in his place
of concealment ; but a strong dragon, winding himself
round the vessel, defended him from the assaults of the
wolf. The father, some time after this, came to see his son,
and, supposing that the dragon had destroyed him, hurled
his dart at the animal, and, together with the dragon, slew
his son. But when he understood, from certain shepherds,
that the boy was slain by his own hands, and that the
dragon had been the benevolent guardian of his son, he
raised a funeral pile for the dragon and the boy in common ;
and they say that the place retains vestiges of this funeral-
pile even at present, and that the city was denominated
Ophitea from the dragon." Here the story is connected
with serpent-worship. The allusions (for example, to " the
stratagems of his enemies" and to the shepherds) are
evidence that Pausanias' report is much condensed ; and
they point to a larger body of local tradition dealing per-
haps with the foundation of the city and the establishment
of the dragon-cult. I have not discovered in a cursory
search the passage where Herodotus mentions the city.
Nor can it be assumed as certain that the story was current

Report on Folk -tale Research. 129

in his day, though the dragon-cult probably then existed
as well as the city named from the dragon. But even if
we admit this, and further call to mind Alexander's expe-
dition and the intercourse between East and West that
followed it — all between the date of Herodotus and that of
Pausanias — yet so different is the form of the legend from
any known Indian variant, and so curious are the details
which link it to Ophitea, that it would require M. Cosquin's
powerful spectacles to induce us to see the mint-mark of
the Buddhist workshop upon it. I conclude, therefore,
that whether or not the story issued in all its forms from a
single factory, there were versions known in Europe — at
least there was one version — independent of the literary
current through which the apologue is generally traced ;
and before the inquiries on the subject are closed some
consideration must be given to the spread of this tradi-
tional version and to its possible influence on the literary
versions.

The chief feature of Dr. Murko's essay on the History of
the Seven Wise Masters among the Slavs is his full account
of a newly discovered Bohemian version and of the various
Russian texts.

The edition of Basile's work, of which the first volume
has appeared during the past year, is a careful and beautiful
reprint, with foot-notes explaining the most difficult words
in dialect, of the editions of 1634-6, which were printed
from his own manuscripts. Some historical notes are
added ; and an Introduction is prefixed, containing a
biography, accompanied by illustrative documents, and a
discussion of TJie Tale of Tales as a literary work, and of
its relation to comparative storiology.

E. Sidney Hartland.

VOL. Ill,

FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
COUNCIL.

January 13TH, 1892.

OWING to the great amount of work which fell upon
the members of the Council in connection with the
International Folk-lore Congress of 1891, the Council were
unable to give their usual detailed attention to all branches
of the Society's work. They feel, however, that the members
of the Society will not disapprove of this when they con-
sider with what great success the Congress was conducted ;
and that the Congress has done more than anything else in
England to draw public attention to the aims of the Society
and the attention of scholars to the good work done, and to
be done, by the Society.

So important an event in the history of Folk-lore indeed
does the Congress appear to be, that the Council, imme-
diately after its termination, considered that the time had
arrived for a new departure, and that, in order to allow the
Society fuller scope, its executive must, to some extent at
any rate, be reorganised. With this object in view, the
Council are considering the best means of securing in
London a permanent habitation, of forming a library, and,
if possible, a museum of folk-lore objects, and of consti-
tuting in each of the counties or districts of the United
Kingdom some form of local organisation. These objects
must be recognised by all as important for the collection of
materials of folk-lore, and every effort will be made to secure
their being carried out at no great distance of time. One

Annual Report of the Coimcil. 1 3 1

step in this direction has been made by the Council in
unanimously adopting a resolution : " That the time has
arrived when it is advisable, in the best interests of the
Society, that a paid Secretary be substituted for an
Honorary Secretary." The Council believe that by
appointing a permanent paid official they may be able at
no distant date to complete the scheme of organisation
which they have in hand.

Unfortunately, at this juncture the Council had to face
the loss of Mr. Gomme's services as Director, and of Mr.
Foster's services as Honorary Secretary. Mr. Gomme has
served the Society first as Hon. Secretary, and subse-
quently as Director, ever since its formation in 1878, and
two years ago he informed the Council of his wish to resign
owing to his inability to devote so much time to the work.
At the request of the Council he continued to occupy his
old post, and when he informed them again this year of his
wish to resign, they felt they ought not any longer to resist
his decision. Mr. Foster has served the Society for
six years as Honorary Secretary, and upon his resignation
the Council passed a cordial vote of thanks to him for his
very considerable services, and they feel sure that the
Society will endorse this vote.

The resignation of Mr. Lang as President is also another
source of regret, and the Council feel that the Society owe
him a great debt for giving them so long the benefit of
his name and of his assistance.

The roll of members remains practically stationary, and
the Society has to lament the loss of Earl Beauchamp, one
of its Vice-Presidents, and formerly one of its Presidents,
and of the Earl of Powis, one of its Vice-Presidents.

The Council wish to impress upon every member of the
Society the urgent need of more help in money and work.
Help in both these directions is absolutely essential if the
organisation of the Society is to be extended ; and it would
be indeed lamentable if, after so many years of encouraging
progress, there should be any failing of the necessary help

K2

132 Annual Report of the Council.

now that such help is needed for the most important part
of the Society's work.

Evening meetings have been held on the following dates :
January 21st, February i8th, March i8th, April 22nd,
May 27th, June 17th, November nth, and December 9th.

The Papers read at these meetings were —

Folk-lore of Malagasy Birds. By Rev. J. Sibree.

Recent Theories about King Arthur. By Mr. A. Nutt.

Childe Rowland. By Mr. J. Jacobs.

Notes on English Folk-Drama. By Mr. T. F. Ordish.

Notes on Manx Folk-lore. By Professor Rhys.

The Guardian Spirits of Wells and Lochs. By Rev. W. Gregor.

Notes on some S. African Folk-lore. By Rev. James McDonald.

A Relic of Samaritan Folk-lore. By Rev. Dr. Lowy.

The Lai of Eliduc and the Marchen of Little Snow-White. By

Mr. A. Nutt.
Further Notes on Manx Folk-lore. By Professor Rhys.

The publications for the year are: Folk- Lore, vol. ii, which
has been issued to members in its usual quarterly parts,
and the Denham Tracts, vol. i, which has not yet been
issued, but which is far advanced in the press, and will, it
is expected, be ready for delivery to members by March
next. The Council has in hand for 1892 the translation of
Saxo Granunaticus, by Mr. Oliver Elton, with an Intro-
duction by Mr. York Powell, and they are glad to report
that a portion of the MS. is already in the printer's hands.
There is also the volume of Cinderella story-variants,
now being edited by Miss Roalfe Cox. Some delay has
taken place owing to the difficulty of getting some of the
less accessible variants from Finland and from Italy ;
but, thanks to Dr. Krohn and to Dr. Pitre, these difficulties
are being overcome, and the volume will not now be long
delayed. It will form the first fairly complete collection of
materials for the study of one story, and the Council hope
that it may be the standard and example of other volumes
on similar lines.

In connection with the proposed organisation of county
or district centre^ all over the kingdom, it is desirable

Annual Report of the Council. 133

that each local committee should first of all prepare a
reprint of the folk-lore relating to the county which has
appeared in the local histories, old chronicles, Notes and
Queries, and other similar sources, which at present lie
scattered about and inaccessible. The Council propose to
issue such a reprint for the county of Gloucester as a
specimen, and it has been prepared by Mr. E. Sidney
Hartland. It is expected that these reprints will com-
mand a local sale, and when sufficient are in type to
form a volume, they will be edited and annotated, and
issued to members. Both Leicestershire and Norfolk
have moved in the matter of local organisation, and Mr.
Charles J. Billson of the former county, and Mr. Gerish
and Miss Matthews of the latter county, are prepared to
assist. The Council desire if possible to depute one of
their members or the Secretary to attend the inauguration
of each local Committee, so that by means of the printed
collection of County Folk-lore, and the presence of a
representative of the Society, real progress may be made
with this important work.

The accounts of the Society as audited are presented
herewith. The Council desire to call attention to the
satisfactory financial position of the Society, as, after
paying considerable arrears of printing bills, there is a
substantial balance in hand to complete the printing of
the volume in hand for 1891. It is gratifying to note
that in Messrs. Nutt's hands the sale of publications has
greatly increased. The Council have agreed to advance
to the Congress Committee such funds as it may require
for printing the Transactions pending the completion of
the accounts.

The Council, in considering their recommendation for the
office of President, unanimously agreed that Mr. Gomme
should be asked to serve in that capacity. They felt that
if Mr. Gomme would agree to the proposal it would be a
great benefit to the Society at this period of its existence,
and they are glad to think that Mr. Gomme has assented

134 Annual Report of the Council.

to the wish of his colleagues. The other recommendations
are: —

As Vice-Presidents — Mr. A. Lang, Dr. Tylor, Sir J.
Lubbock, General Pitt Rivers, Professor A. H. Sayce, and
Professor Rhys. As Members of Council — The Hon. J.
Abercromby, Dr. Karl Blind, Mr. E. W. Brabrook, Dr. R.
Brown, Miss Burne, Miss Roalfe Cox, Mr. J. P. Emslie,
Mr. J. G. Frazer, Mr. J. J. Foster, Dr. Gaster, Professor
A. C. Haddon, Mr. E. S. Hartland, Mr. A. G. Hutt, Mr. J.
Jacobs, His Honour Judge Brynmor Jones, Mr. W. F. Kirby,
Mr. C. G. Leland, Mr. A. Nutt, Mr. T. F. Ordish, and Mr.
Wheatley. As Treasurer — Mr Edward Clodd. As
Auditors — Messrs. G. L. Apperson and J. Tolhurst; and
as Secretary, Mr. F. A. Milne. The Council do not recom-
mend any appointment for the office of Director vacated
by Mr. Gomme, and they desire that the question of the
appointment of Local Secretaries be considered in connec-
tion with the steps to be taken for the more effectual
organisation of the Society throughout the country.

A. Lang, President.
G. L. GOMME, Director.

Annual Report of the Council.

135

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6 JFolk-lore Society.

THE ANNUAL MEETING.

The Annual General Meeting of the Folk-lore Society was held
at 22, Albemarle Street, on Wednesday, January 13th, 1892, Mr.
E. Clodd in the Chair.

The Annual Report having been read by the Assistant-Secretary,
and briefly commented on by the Chairman, it was proposed by
the Chairman, and seconded by Mr. Jacobs, and resolved unani-
mously, that the Report be received, adopted, and entered on the
Minutes.

On the motion of the Chairman it was resolved that the Balance
Sheet be taken as read.

The Officers and Members of Council nominated for election
by the Report were then elected en bloL\ the name of Mr. J. T.
Naake being substituted as a Member of Council in the place of
Dr. R. Brown, resigned.

CORRESPONDENCE.

CHAINED IMAGES.

To the Editor of FOLK-LORE.

Sir, — Will you allow mc to bring before your readers
an enigma which is, I think, interesting, and as yet un-
solved ?

Why does early man make ritual use of chained or
fettered images ? and whence come his myths and legends
of chained and captive deities (other than the volcanic
" earth-shakers") ?

As typical Greek examples, perhaps I may quote the
bound Actaeon statue which Pausanias saw at Orchemenos
{Pans., ix, 38, 6) ; the yearly 7-ites celebrated to Hera at
Samos in the " festival called Tonens", where the statue of
the goddess (" tightly bound" in willow branches in the
legend) was carried down to the sea-shore and hidden
{AtJienceus, xv, c 13 ; Bohn, p. 1073); and in myth the
fettering of Ares by the Aloidae in the "strong prison
house ; yea in a vessel of bronze lay he bound thirteen
months" {Iliad, v, 386).

The chaining with an iron chain of a cultus image, in
ritual, occurs in China ; the binding in an iron " Dresch-
haus" in Finnish myth ; and there is, of course, the straw
rope prominent in Japanese Shinto temples and custom ;
but all such analogies fail as yet to solve the riddle.

Is it too much to hope that the kindness or interest of
some readers of Folk-Lore may prompt them to impart
any suggestive facts, undeterred by Athenseus' scorn of
those interpreters of willow-rites who " said many irrele-
vant things on the subject" ? Not living in the period of

138 ' Correspondence.

the Comparative Method, how should he know the scien-
tific value of irrelevancy ?

May I put the point briefly, as begging for any informa-
tion on —

1. Instances of images (or sacred persons, animals, objects,
or places) bound with ropes, chains, branches, etc. ; at
special times ; and permanently ?

2. Ritudl in connection with them ?

3. Myth or legend (though these are, of course, far less
valuable than actual rite or image) of fettered or im-
prisoned deities or heroes, other than the volcanic myths ?

Peasant custom, as well as cultus ritual (cf Mannhardt,
Mytliologische ForscJmngen, p. 320 et seq., on the roping of
the " Korngeist", Last Sheaf in the harvests of Silesia, etc.),
should yield evidence, could one find it.

Gertrude M. Godden.

MISCELLANEA.

Churn Charm. — The following charm was communicated to me by
a gentleman past eighty-five years of age, as having been used by his
mother (a Norfolk woman) whilst churning her butter : " St. Peter is
standing at the gate. Come, butter, to the gate ! Come, butter,
come." The family was not a Roman Catholic one. A. NUTT.

Sympathetic Bees. — My mother, who passed much of her youth in
the village of Bake well in Northamptonshire, tells me that the belief
in the necessity of telling the bees everything was very strong there.
At the death of a sister of hers, some of the cake and wine which was
served to the mourners after the funeral was placed inside each hive,
in addition to the crape put upon each. At her own wedding (in
1849) a small piece of wedding-cake was placed on each hive.

A. NUTT.

NOTES AND NEWS.

Among the papers in the June number of FoLK-LoRE
will be the continuation of " Samoan Tales", by the Hon. J.
Abercromby; a number of South African tales by the
Rev. James Macdonald; "The Sin Eater", by Mr. E.
Sidney Hartland ; and " The Christmas Tree", by Prof
Tille, of Glasgow.

Our subject is becoming recognised as a science by
men of science. In his recently published Grammar of
Science, Prof Karl Pearson places Folk-lore in its due place
in the classification of the sciences, along with psychology
and other of the so-called " moral sciences".

Mr. W. W. Newell gives in the current number of the
Journal of the A merican Folk-lore Society a report on the
recent Congress, giving a careful and unbiassed resume of
the chief papers read, etc. In a further " Note" on the
matter, he expresses the opinion that the next Congress
will take place on the Continent. It is to be hoped that
this does not definitely exclude a meeting at the World's
Fair in Chicago next year.

One of the oldest members of the Folk-lore Society,
Mr. Andrews, has collected the folk-lore of the Riviera,
and published it in French.

The first volume of the Denham Tracts is all in type,
and will be shortly issued to members as the volume for
1 89 1. The second volume is also progressing.

140 Notes and Netus.

An important step has been taken towards the collection
of English folk-lore by Mr. E. Sidney Hartland, who has
collected the folk-lore printed in county histories, news-
papers, etc., of the county in which he resides — Gloucester-
shire. The Folk-lore Society has caused the extracts to
be printed, and it is hoped that other counties will follow
suit.

The organisation of county councils, so to speak, in con-
nection with the Folk-lore Society, is now engaging the
attention of the Council. Steps are being taken to esta-
blish such branches in Leicestershire and Rutland, and in
Lincolnshire.

The beginnings of a Folk-lore Library are now being
collected together at the rooms of Mr. Milne, the secretary,
who has kindly offered to house any contributions to
such a library as may be forwarded by members of the
Society.

Mrs. G. L. Gomme is continuing the collection of Feasten
cakes which created such interest at the recent Congress,
and would be glad of any information on the subject, which
could be forwarded to her at i, Beverley Villas, Barnes
Common, S.W.

Communications for the next number of Folk-Lore
should reach the office, 270, Strand, on or before May ist.

FOLK-LORE BLBLLOGRAPHY.

BOOKS.

1 89 1, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.

\Engli5h books published in London, French hooks in Paris,
unless otherwise mentioned.l

FOLK-LORE IN GENERAL.

Andrews (J. B.). Contes ligures, traditions de la Riviere. Paris,

1892. Leroux.
Benfey (T.). Kleine Scripten herausgegeben von H. Bezzenberger.

Bnd. ii. [Contains Benfey's scattered articles on folk-tale re-
search, but unfortunately not those contained in Orient und

Occident. 1
BoTHLiNGK (O.). F. Max Miiller als Mythendichter. 8vo. pp. 14

St. Petersburg.
D'AULNOY (Madame). Fairy Tales, with an Introduction by A.

Thackeray Ritchie. Pp.556. Lawrence and Bullen.
Morris (Rev. W. C. K.). Yorkshire Folk-talk, with Characteristics

of those who speak it in the North and East Ridings. 8vo.

pp. xii, 408. [With chapter on Customs and Superstitions.]

W. H. Frowde.
Redd (R.). The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece. 8vo. pp.

276.
Sbarbi (J. M.). Monografia sobre los refranes, adagios y proverbios

castellanos. Fol. pp. 412. Madrid.
Schlossar (Dr. A.). Deutsche Volkschauspiele in Steiermark ge-

sammelt. 2 Bnde. i2mo. pp. 343, 404.

JOURNALS.

American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, November 1891, xiii, 6.
D. Feet, The Religion of the Mound-Builders. W. E. De Forest,
Yema, or Votive Pictures, in Japan. /. Deatis, The Moon-
Symbol on the Totem Posts on the North-West Coast.

142 Folk-lo7'e Bibliography.

The American Anthropologist (Washington), vol. iv, No. 4, October
1 89 1. J. Owen Dorsey, Games of Teton Dakota Children.
Stewart Culin, Social Organisation of the Chinese in America.
S. A. Lapone Quevedo, On Zemes from Catamarca. A. F.
Chamberlain, Maple Sugar and the Indians. R. Fletcher, Quar-
terly Bibliography of Anthropologic Literature. J. N. B. Hewitt,
Notes and News : A Central African's Description of a Euro-
pean Woman. Kahastinens, or the Fire-Dragon.

Journal of American Folk-lore, October — December i8gi. H. Hale,
Huron Folk-lore : iii, The Legend of the Thunderers. W. M.
Beauchamp, Hi-a-wat-ha. G. B. C^-innell, The Young Dog's
Dance. A. Moffat, The Mountaineers of Middle Tennessee.
F. Starr, Some Pennsylvania German Lore. R. L. Packard,
Notes on the Mythology and Religion of the Nez Perces. J.
Owen Dorsey, The Social Organisation of the Siouan Tribes.
The Second International Folk-lore Congress. Notes and
Queries.

Melusine, v, 12. H. Gaidoz, La pierre de serpent. Croyances des
chasseurs : iv, dans I'Oubanghi. Les dt^corations. J. Tiichmann,
La fascination (cont. in vi, i). Chansons populaires de la Basse-
Bretagne : xxx, Le Braz, Sur le MS. de " Guinelain": xxxi,
E. Ernault, La nourrice et les voleurs. J. Levi, Les Acqueducs,
iii.— VI, i, H. Gaidoz, A nos lecteurs. A. Barth, G.-A. Wilken,
L'^tymologie populaire et le folk-lore. H. Gaidoz, Un livre de
M. Keller. G. Doncieux, Quelques noms de Saints. H. Gaidoz,
Les chemins de fer. J. Couraye du Pare, La blanche biche.
E. Rolland, La jalousie de Joseph. H. Gaidoz, Le pelerinage
de St. Jacques.

Revue des Traditions Populaires, 1891, vi, 12. E. Muntz, Les legendes
du moyen age dans Tart de la Renaissance : i, ii. La l^gende de
Trajan. F. Regaviey, Les armes : ii, L'Animisme des armes.
P. Sebillot et J. Tiersot, Beau marinier, chanson de la Haute-
Bretagne. L. B?'ueyre, Congr^s des Traditions populaires :
Deuxieme congres. G. Fvtiju, Coutumes, croyances et tradi-
tions de Noel : x, Les betes parlent la nuit de Noel. R. Basset,
Les Pourquoi : Iviii, P. les Juifs ne mangent pas de pore. J.
Tiersot, Richard Wagner et les traditions populaires : i, Lohen-
grin et I'imagerie populaire ; ii, La Fraternisation par le sang.
D. Boiirchenin, Folk-lore du Bdarn {suite). P. Sibillot, Les
Soci^tds de Traditions populaires : vi, Socidte de Litterature
finnoise. P. Marchot, Conte de sorcellerie, Luxembourg beige.
R. Basset, Les villes englouties, xlix-lvi. G. Do7icieux, Le Lac
de Paladru, Ivii. P. S., Superstitions et coutumes des mariniers.

Folk-lore Bibliography. 143

iv {suite) : L'invention des flottages. C. Hercoiiet, Les fund-
railles d'un dauphin en Annam. R. Basset, Legendes africaines
sur I'origine de rhomme, vii-viii. /. Garitier^ Extraits et lec-
tures : Deux contes de la Haute-Bretagne : i, Les enfants qui
n'ont pas vu le jour. E. Bergerat, Le mouchoir blanc, ii. —
Jan. 1892, vii, i. V. dUndy et J. Tiersot, Chansons populaires
recueillies dans le Vivarais et le Vercors. G.-T. Petrovitch,
Traditions et superstitions des ponts et chaussees {suite) : Fonts,
carrefours et routes en Herzegovine. D. Cels Goinis, Les in-
ventions modernes : Le t^legraphe {suite). P. S., Les villes
englouties : Iviii, Saint Sane et un lac d'Irlande; lix, La ville d'Ys.
L. Morin, Contes troyens : vi, Firjoine. Morel-Rets, Les comes.
P. Marchot, La fete des rois : xvi, Chant des rois (Luxembourg
beige). E.-T. Hamy, Chansons du renouvellement de I'ann^e :
ii, Chanson dnumerative du Haut-Boulonnais. R. Kerviler,
Rites de la construction, iv. P. Sebillot, Additions aux Cou-
tumes, traditions et superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne. G. de
Rialle, Pourquoi les Borghese ne sont plus riches. L. Morin,
La fraternisation par le sang : iv, Aube. R. Basset, Solaiman
dans les legendes musulmanes : vi, Les objets merveilleux : Les
armes. P. S., Les Soci^tes de Traditions populaires : vii,
Chicago Folk-lore Society. L. de la Sicotihre, Les noms des
doigts : i, En Normandie. T. V., Necrologie : A-A, Potebnia.

La Tradition, 1891, lO-ii. E. Blemofit, Le Congres international des
Traditions populaires. E. Blctnont (traduit par), Allocution de
M. Andrew Lang. M. Dragovtanov, Le crime d'OEdipe : ii,
A propos de I'^tude de M. Berenger-Feraud. A. Harou, Le
folklore de la Belgique : xiv, Blason populaire. L. Co7nbes,
Le diable et son metayer (conte de I'Agenais). A. Certeux,
Facetie de Marseille au sujet du lion. H. Carnoy et_/. Nicolaides,
Le folklore de Constantinople : iv, Le roi Salomon et les
demons. Berenger- Fh-aud, Contes de Provence, iv. S. Prato, Le
menuisier, le tailleur et le sophta. Ortoli, Contes d'animaux, ii.
/. Plantadis, Les Chevaliers du Papegai. J. Baffier, Janete et
la brebis pelade. M. de Zmigrodski, Le folklore polonais : v,
Les coutumes. — 12. .^. Carw^y, Les Brandons. ^./'ra/<7, L'homme
changd en ane. H. Correvon, Legendes valaisannes. A. Certeux,
Prouesses de chasse (fac^ties arabes). H. Cojtwy, Acousmates
et chasses fantastiques, ii. Ortoli, Un proverbe de comp&re
I'ours. — 1892, I. M. de Zinigrodzki, Le folklore polonais, v
{suite). J. Salles, Lou Higue ; Le Figuier. A. Harou, Le folk-
lore de la Belgique, xv. F. de Beaurepaire, Chansons populaires
du Ouercy, x. H. Carnoy, Les Luperrales. A. Certeux, Le

144 Folk-lore Bibliography.

serpent ^ figure d'homme. P. P. le Brun^ Croyances relatives
a I'aimant. A. C, Folklore parisien. C. de IVcir/oy, Sur
quelques pratiques superstitieuses. /. Lemoine, Contes popu-
laires du Hainaut. A. Chaboseati^ Vieille berceuse nimoise.
H. Carnoy, Chanson populaire picarde. Hotidmi, Les enseignes.
J. Nicolaides, Hysyr et Thomme pieux. E. BUmont^ Le mouve-
ment traditionniste.

Am Urquell (Vienna), vol. ii, No. 9, 1891. /?./^.^azW/,Baba Jaudocha-
Dokia. H. Frischbier, Ratsel-Geschichten (cont. in No. 10).
O. Schell und H. Volkstnann, Die Fescherin. F. H'dft, Abderiten
von heute. K. Knauthe^ Geisterglaube. R. F. Kaindl, Hexen-
leiter ? H. Knmtthe und H. Volksmann^ Schimpworter (cont. in
No. 10). J. Sembrzyckt\ Ostpreussische Sprichworter, Volks-
reime und Provinzialismen (cont. in No. 10). H. Sundermann,
Ostfriesisches Volkstum (cont. in No. 10). G. Kupczanko,
Hochzeitgebraiiche der Weissrussen. Kleine Mittheilungen.
— No. 10. B. W. Schiffer, Stindenkauf. Kaindl, Das Alp-
driicken. H. Volksinatm, Abderiten von heute. H. Theen,
Volklied. Kaindl, Der Eid im Volkleben. H. Volks7nann,
Tierfabeln. K. E. Haase, Sagen und Erzahlungen aus der
Grafschaft Ruppin und Umgegend. Krauss, Volkmedizin. Kleine
Mittheilungen. Eine polnische Gesellschaft fiir Volkkunde.

Zeitschrift des Vereins fur Volkskunde, No. 4. L. Tobler, Mytho-
logie und Religion. P. Kallmann, Der Umfang des friesischen
Sprachgebiets im Oldenburg. M. Menghini, Krit. Uebersicht
iiber die italienische Volksliteratur in 1890. J. Krejei, In der
deutschen,bomischen und mahrischen Volksliedern. M. Rehsener,
Die Gebirgsnatur in Vorstellung und Sage der Gossenasser. W.
Nehring, Die ethnographischen Arbeiten des Slaven vornehmlich
O. Kolbergs.

Zeitschrift fiir Volkskunde, iv, i. E. Veckenstedt, Vorabend und
Tag St. Johannis des Taufers. Th. Vernaleken, Mythische Volks-
dichtungen. E. Prieser, Volkslieder aus Brandenburg. B.
Huser, Ein Schutzenfestbrauch.

3folk*Xoic,

Vol. III.] JUNE, 1892. [No. II.

THE SIN -EATER.

THE earliest mention of the curious custom of the Sin-
eater, formerly observed in Wales and the Welsh
Marches at funerals, is found in TJie Reniaines of Goitilisinc
and Jiidaisine^ a work of John Aubrey, which remained in
manuscript for two hundred years, until it was for the first
time issued by the Folk-lore Society ten or twelve years
ago. The passages in question run as follows :

Offertories at funeralls.

These are mentioned in the Rubrick of y* ch. of Engl. Cofnon-
Prayer-booke : but I never sawe it used, but once at Beaumaris, in
Anglesey ; but it is used over all the Counties of North- Wales.
But before when the corps is brought out of Doores, there is Cake
& Cheese, and a new Bowie of Beere, and another of Milke
with y' Anno Dni ingraved on it, & y' parties name deceased,
w"*" one accepts of on the other side of y^ Corps ; & this Custome
is used to this day, 1686, in North Wales. [. . . .

Sinne-eaters.

It seems a remainder of this custom w'^'' lately obtained at
Amersden, in the county of Oxford, where at the burial of every
corps one Cake and one flaggon of Ale just after the interrment
were brought to the minister in the Ch. porch. W. K.]^

^ Pp. 23-4. The passage in brackets is added by Dr. Kennett.
VOL. in. L

146 The Sin-Eater.

Sinne-eaters.

In the County of Hereford was an old Custome at funeralls to

< , [ poor people, who were to take upon them all the sinnes of

the party deceased. One of them I remember lived in a Cottage
on Rosse-high way. (He was a long, leane, ugly, lamentable poor
raskal.) The manner was that when the Corps was brought out
of the house and layd on the Biere ; a Loafe of bread was
brought out, and delivered to the Sinne-eater over the corps,
as also a Mazar-bowle of maple (Gossips bowle) full of beer, w"*"
he was to drinke up, and sixpence in money, in consideration
whereof he tooke upon him (ipso facto) all the Sinnes of the
Defunct, and freed him (or her) from walking after they were
dead. This custome alludes (methinkes) something to the Scape-
goate in y* old La we. Leviticus, cap. xvi, verse 21, 22. "And
Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goate and
confesse over him all y*" iniquities of the children of Israel, and all
their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head
of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fitt
man into the wildernesse. And the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities, unto a land not inhabited: and he shall
let the goat goe unto the wildernesse." This Custome (though

rarely used in our dayes) yet by some people was \ . ,1

even in the strictest time of y" Presbyterian goverment : as at

Dynder, volens nolens the Parson of y* Parish, the < '^"''f^" I
•^ ( relations J

of a woman deceased there had this Ceremonie punctually per-
formed according to her Will : and also the like was donne at y'
City of Hereford in these times, when a woman kept many yeares
before her death a Mazard-bowle for the Sinne-eater; and the
like in other places in this Countie; as also in Brecon, e.g. at
Llangors, where Mr. Gwin the minister about 1640 could no
hinder y'^ performing of this ancient custome. I believe this

custom was heretofore used over all Wales.

*****
In North-Wales the Sinne-eaters are frequently made use of;

but there, insted of a Bowie of Beere, they have a bowle of

Milke.

The Sin- Eater. 147

Methinkes, Doles to Poore people with money at Funeralls have
some resemblance to that of y" Sinne-eater. Doles at Funeralls
were continued at Gentlemens funeralls in the West of England
till the Civil-warre. And so in Germany at rich mens funerals
Doles are in use, and to every one a Quart of strong and good
Beer. — Cramer.^

Ellis, who quotes Aubrey from the MS., also reprints
from Iceland's Collectanea a letter from a Mr, Bagford
giving a slightly varied account, also professedly derived
from Aubrey. The letter is dated ist Feb. 17 14-5, and
runs thus :

"Within the memory of our Fathers, in Shropshire, in those
villages adjoyning to Wales, when a person dyed, there was
notice given to an old Sire, (for so they called him,) who pre-
sently repaired to the place where the deceased lay, and stood
before the door of the house, when some of the Family came out
and furnished him with a Cricket, on which he sat down facing
the door. Then they gave him a Groat, which he put in his
pocket ; a Crust of Bread, which he eat ; and a full bowle of Ale,
which he drank off at a draught. After this, he got up from the
Cricket and pronounced, wdth a composed gesture, the ease and
rest of the Soul departed, for which he would pawn his oivn Soul."'^

The only other mention of this custom of any import-
ance is by the late Mr. Matthew Moggridge of Swansea,
at a meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Association
held at Ludlow in 1852. His account was that "when a
person died, the friends sent for the Sin-eater of the
district, who on his arrival placed a plate of salt on the
breast of the defunct, and upon the salt a piece of bread.
He then muttered an incantation over the bread, which he
finally ate, thereby eating up all the sins of the deceased.
This done, he received his fee of 2s. 6d., and vanished as
quickly as possible from the general gaze ; for, as it was
believed that he really appropriated to his own use and
behoof the sins of all those over whom he performed the

^ Brand and Ellis, Observations on Pop. Ati/iquities, 11, 155.

L 2

148 The Sin- Eater.

above ceremony, he was utterly detested in the neighbour-
hood— regarded as a mere Pariah — as one irredeemably
lost." Mr. Moggridge specified the neighbourhood of Llan-
debie, about twelve or thirteen miles from Swansea, as a
place where the custom had survived to within a recent
period.^

No explanation of this strange custom has, so far as I
know, been hitherto offered, beyond Aubrey's conjecture
that it has some reference to the Hebrew Scape-goat. I
propose briefly to compare it with one or two other cus-
toms in this country and abroad, for the purpose if possible
of tracing its origin. In doing so I will ask you to assume
that, as is usual in traditional rites which have continued
to modern times, we have in the custom described only a
mutilated form of the original ceremony. If that ceremony
was in ancient times at all widely distributed we shall
probably find its remains in places far apart ; but we must
not expect to find them all exactly alike. The portion of
the ceremony, or the interpretation of it, which most
forcibly strikes the popular imagination, and is conse-
quently held most tenaciously in the popular memory, in
one place is not always precisely that which is to be re-
cognized at first sight elsewhere. We shall have to piece
together the relics we find, first in order to show that they
relate to the same rite, that they are in fact portions of the
same pattern, though perhaps distorted or half obliterated,
and secondly to discover what the original pattern was.
Fortunately in the present case the pattern is simple, and
the fragments, though few, are unmistakable in their
characteristics.

At present we will note that the rite has to do with the
disposal of the dead, that the eating of food placed upon
the cofiin, or rather upon the body itself, is the substance
of the rite, and that the belief connected with it is that by
the act of eating some properties of the dead are taken
over by the eater. With this general idea in our minds we
may look for analogues.

^ Archceologia Camdrefisis, N.S., iii (1852), 330.

The Sin-Eater. 149

In the Highlands of Bavaria we are told that when the
corpse is placed upon the bier the room is carefully washed
out and cleaned. It was formerly the custom for the
housewife then to prepare the LeicJien-nudeln, which I may
perhaps freely translate as Corpse-cakes. Having kneaded
the dough, she placed it to rise on the dead body, which lay
there enswathed in a linen shroud. When the dough had
risen the cakes were baked for the expected guests. To
the cakes so prepared the belief attached that they con-
tained the virtues and advantages ( Vortheile) of the de-
parted, and that thus the living strength of the deceased
passed over by means of the corpse-cakes into the kinsmen
who consumed them, and so was retained within the
kindred.^

Here we find ourselves at an earlier stage in the disin-
tegration of tradition than in the Welsh custom. The
eating is not merely that of food placed upon the breast of
the dead man, and so in some way symbolically identified
with him. The dough in rising is believed actually to
absorb his qualities, which are transmitted to those of his
kin who partake of the cakes, and, consistently with the
custom requiring the relatives to eat these cakes, that the
qualities transferred are not evil but good ones : the living
strength, the virtues and so on of the dead are retained
within the kin.

Something like this may have been the meaning of the
Dyak funeral rite in which food is set before the dead ere
the coffin is closed. It is allowed to stand for about an
hour by the corpse and is then devoured by the nearest
relations of the departed.^ So also when a Hungarian
Gipsy dies he is carried out of the tent or hut. It is then
the duty of the members of his family {Stammgenossen) to
offer to the deceased gifts, especially food and drink of

^ Dr. M. Hoefler of Toelz, in A7?i Urqiiel/, ii, loi.
'^ F. Grabowsky in Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographie^ ii,
180.

150 The Sin-Eater.

various kinds which they lay beside the body, and after-
wards themselves consume.^

In the Scottish Lowlands a curious, and apparently
meaningless, ceremony used to take place about a
hundred years ago on the occasion of a death. It is
thus described :

" When a body has been washed and laid out, one of the
oldest women present must light a candle, and wave it three
times around the corpse. Then she must measure three handfuls
of common salt into an earthenware plate, and lay it on the
breast. Lastly, she arranges three ' toom' or empty dishes on the
hearth, as near as possible to the fire ; and all the attendants
going out of the room return into it backwards, repeating this
' rhyme of saining' :

' Thrice the torchie, thrice the saltie.
Thrice the dishies toom for " loffie" [/>., praise],
These three times three ye must wave round
The corpse until it sleep sound.
Sleep sound and wake nane.
Till to heaven the soul's gane.
If ye want that soul to dee

Fetch the torch frae th' Elleree [seer, or wizard] ;
Gin ye want that soul to live,
Between the dishes place a sieve.
An' it sail have a fair, fair shrive.'

This rite is called Dishaloof Sometimes, as is named in the
verses, a sieve is placed between the dishes, and she who is so
fortunate as to place her hand in it is held to do most for the
soul. If all miss the sieve, it augurs ill for the departed. Mean-
while all the windows in the house are opened, in order to give
the soul free egress. . . In some of the western counties, however,
the dishes are set upon a table or ' bunker' (as they call a long
chest) close to the death-bed ; and it is actually said that while
the attendants sit with their hands in the dishes they 'spae' or
tell fortunes, sing songs or repeat rhymes, in the middle of which

1 Von Wlislocki, Volksglaube und religioser Branch der Zigeu?ier.,
99-

The Sin-Eater. 1 5 1

the corpse, it is averred, has been known to rise frowning, and
place its cold hand in one of the dishes, thus presaging death to
her whose hand was in that dish already. The Dishaloof so far
over, the company join hands and dance round the dishes, singing
this burden : ' A dis, a dis, a dis, a green gris, a dis, a dis, a dis.'
Bread, cheese, and spirits are then placed on the table, and, when
the company have partaken of them, they are at liberty to go
home."^

The explanation of this Scottish rite is not quite so easy
as that of some others. But I think it will be agreed that
it is hardly possible to assign an intelligible meaning to it
if it be not of the same order of thought as that expressed
in the Bavarian, and perhaps also in the Dyak, and Gipsy
rites. The empty dishes placed on the hearth, or on a
table close beside the corpse, the attendants sitting with
their hands in them, the completion of the performance
by eating and drinking of food set on the table in the very
place where the dishes have been, all point to a ceremonial
banquet in which the food has a mysterious connection
with the dead. There is no doubt something which this
supposition does not fully explain — the sieve, for example,
and the words of the songs ; but we must remember that
the dishes give their name to the rite, and are bound up
with its essential elements, while there can be no doubt
that it is in a state of decadence. Now when a ceremonial
is decaying and passing gradually out of use, the non-
essential portions first drop out and are replaced by others,
or altogether omitted. This, therefore, is what we should
have expected to occur to this Lowland rite.

The Lowland, the Dyak, and the Gipsy rites, however,
are all more archaic, and therefore more significant in form
than the custom of doles of money and food at funerals,
which was identified by Aubrey in the passages I have
quoted, as well as by more recent writers, as a survival of

"■ Henderson, Folk-lore of the Northern Counties, 53, quoting the
Wilkie MSS.

152 The Sin-Eater.

the Sin-eater. That this identification is substantially
correct will be seen, not only from the instances already
given, but also from Pennant's statement that in Wales,
" previous to a funeral, it was customary, when the corpse
was brought out of the house and laid upon the bier, for
the next of kin, be it widow, mother, sister, or daughter
(for it must be a female), to give, over the coffin, a quantity
of white loaves, in a great dish, and sometimes a cheese,
with a piece of money stuck in it, to certain poor persons.
After that, they present, in the same manner, a cup of
drink, and require the person to drink a little of it im-
mediately. When that is done, all present kneel down,
and the minister, if present, says the Lord's Prayer ; after
which they proceed with the corpse. . . To this hour the
bier is carried by the next of kin ; a custom considered as
the highest respect that filial piety can pay to the de-
ceased."^

It is not at all uncommon, as folk-lore students are
aware, that tribal, communal, and other feasts in the last
stage of their decadence come to be represented by gifts of
food to the poor. The significance of the custom as re-
lated by Pennant is that the food and drink are given across
the coffin, by the next of kin, and that if the recipients are
not required to eat the bread on the spot, they have at least
to drink of the liquor offered them. At funerals in Ireland
a plate of snuff is placed upon the breast of the dead, or npon
the coffin, and everyone who attends the funeral is ex-
pected to take a pinch. This custom seems to be hardly
yet extinct, as I have lately spoken to eye-witnesses of it
during quite recent years. In South Wales a plate of salt
is still often laid on the breast of the corpse (a custom once
common in a much wider area) ; and "in a parish near
Chepstow it was usual to make the figure of a cross on the
salt, and cutting an apple or an orange into quarters,
to put one piece at each termination of the lines" ; while
in Pembrokeshire a lighted candle was stuck in the

1 Pennant, Tour in Wales (London, 1784), ii, 338.

The Sin- Eater. 153

salt.^ At the opening of a coffin in St. Mary's Church,
Leicester, not long ago there was found on the breast of the
dead a plate made of tin which it was conjectured had con-
tained salt.- In the neighbourhood of Salzwedel, in Altmark,
a spoon and dish were, among other things, form.erly put
into the coffin.^ It is impossible, however, to lay any stress
on the last-mentioned custom, since salt is of frequent use
against spirits and witches, and the articles buried with the
dead may rather have been intended for use in the spirit-
world than the relics of a funeral observance in the nature
of a feast by the survivors. The occupant of the coffin at
Leicester may have been a priest, for a paten of some
inferior metal was commonly buried with a priest.

But I ought not to leave quite unmentioned as
vestiges of a feast the custom which obtained in Wales
as well as in England of giving small sponge-cakes to the
funeral guests. In Yorkshire and elsewhere the last part
of the funeral entertainment before the procession started
for the churchyard was to hand round " glasses of wine and
small round cakes of the crisp sponge description, of which
most of the guests partook." These cakes were called
" Avril bread". The word avril is said to be derived from
arval, succession-ale, heir-ale, the name of the feasts held
by Icelandic heirs on succeeding to property.^ Many other
survivals of funeral feasts might be cited ; but they would
be irrelevant to my present purpose. I will only add that
a foreigner, describing a nobleman's obsequies which he
witnessed at Shrewsbury in the early years of King Charles
II, states that the minister made a funeral oration in the
chamber where the body lay, and " during the oration there
stood upoji the coffiji a large pot of wine, out of which every

^ Arch. Canibr.., N.S., iii, 330, 331.

'^ Rev. des Trad. Pop.., vi, 485.

^ Temme, Die Volkssagen der Altmark, 77.

* Atkinson, Forty Years in a Moorland Pari sli, 227 ; Arch. Cambr.,
4th S., iii, 332 ; Gettt. Mag. Lib. {Man7ie7-s a?td Customs), 70 ; Cymrii
Fu N. a?td Q., ii, 271, 275. See also Antii^iux and the Antiguans, ii,
188.

154 ^h£ Sin-Eater.

one drank to the health of the deceased. This benig
finished six men took up the Corps, and carried it on their
shoulders to the church."^

The exhibition of cakes at the recent Folk-lore Con-
gress included a Kolyva cake as made and used among
the Greeks of Turkey. On the fortieth day after death a
loaf is sent to each family of the friends of the deceased as
a token of invitation to the commemorative service. The
kolyva, a mixture of which the basis is boiled wheat, is
blessed by the priests, and each person present takes a
handful, saying, as he does so, "God rest him!" The
ceremony is repeated the next day. The mourners then
eat a meal together before proceeding to the cemetery
with the priest to erect a tombstone over the grave. The
poor of the neighbourhood, we are told, are in the evening
regaled with a supper, during which their wishes for the
soul of the departed are repeatedly expressed." This
custom is recorded in Miss Garnett's book on the women
of Turkey. More remarkable still is another custom which
I do not find mentioned there, but of which she herself in-
formed me. Cakes made of boiled wheat similar to the
kolyva cakes, but without the elaborate ornamentation
which covers them, are carried in the funeral procession —
whether or not immediately behind the corpse Miss Gar-
nett was not quite certain, though that is not, perhaps, very
material. After the coffin has been put into the grave the
cake is broken up and eaten by the mourners then and
there above the tomb, each one of them pronouncing the
words : " God rest him ! " just as the Sin-eater pronounced
the ease and rest of the soul departed, and just as at the
nobleman's funeral at Shrewsbury the guests drank to the
health of the deceased." The eating of the kolyva on the

^ Quoted, Brand and Ellis, ii, 153;/.

2 Miss Garnett, The Womc7i of Turkey {The Christian IFomen), gg.

^ When this paper was read to the Folk-lore Society, the Rev. Dr.
Gaster, who was present, mentioned that he had often witnessed the
ceremony described, and added the detail, of which I was unaware,

The Sin- Eater. 155

fortieth day seems to be a commemorative repetition of
this ceremony.

When we set these traditional observances side by side
their meaning is transparent. The partaking of food and
drink which have been placed upon, or near, the body, or
the coffin of the deceased, or are delivered over the coffin
to be consumed — an act, in the most elaborate of these
rites, distinctly believed to convey to the persons who
partake some at all events of the properties of the dead —
can only be a relic of a savage feast where the meat con-
sumed was the very body of the deceased kinsman. The
solemn eating at the grave of a cake carried in the funeral
procession is an analogous rite and points to an identical
origin. The eating of the dead, however repulsive to us, is
known by the testimony of ancient writers to have been
the practice of many barbarous tribes ; and travellers have
likewise found it among modern savages.^ In particular,
Strabo records it of the ancient Irish, telling us that they
considered it praiseworthy to devour their dead fathers.^
The inhabitants of Britain were at that time, as he ex-
pressly says, more civilized than the Irish. They had
perhaps already passed beyond the stage at which this rite,
in its horrible literalness, was possible. But they came of
the same stock as the Irish, in so far at least as they both
were of Celtic blood ; and it is apposite to my argument to
remind you that the latest anthropological investigations
seem to point to a large proportion of Celtic blood also
in the people of Upper Bavaria. The inference that the
ancient cannibalism related only of the Irish was once

that images of the dead were made upon the cakes. This detail, I
venture to think, strengthens my argument, though it is fair to say
that Dr. Gaster did not accept this view nor my conclusion.

Mt is hardly necessary to refer to the very numerous cases re-
corded by modern travellers. The latest I have met with is a dis-
gusting custom among the Bangala, referred to by Dr. Schneider, Die
Religion der afrika7iischert Natiirv'6lkei\ 135.

^ Strabo, Geog.^ Bk. iv, c. 5, s. 4.

156 The Sin- Eater.

common to all these three peoples, among whom similar
modern practices like thoseof the Sin-eater, the snuff-taking,
and the corpse-cakes have been found, is well within the
limits of induction. And it is confirmed by the customs,
either still existent or quite recent, of the Greeks, the
Scotch, and (though more doubtfully) of the Dyaks and
the Gipsies, which appear to indicate the like practice
among their respective ancestors.

But the strongest corroboration of the correctness of
my conclusion is found in a repulsive custom, to which my
attention has been called by a friend since this paper was
read to the Society. This custom is practised by a
number of tribes inhabiting the valley of the Uaupes,
a tributary of the Amazons. Their houses are generally
built to accommodate the whole community ; and the
dead are buried beneath the floor. About a month after
the funeral, Dr. Wallace tells us, the survivors " disinter the
corpse, which is then much decomposed, and put it in a
great pan, or oven, over the fire, till all the volatile parts
are driven off with a most horrible odour, leaving only
a black carbonaceous mass, which is pounded into a fine
powder, and mixed in several large couches (vats made of
hollowed trees) of a fermented drink called caxiri : this is
drunk by the assembled company till all is finished ; they
believe that thus the virtues of the deceased will be trans-
mitted to the drinkers."^

The reason here expressly assigned for the custon] is
neither more nor less than that given by the Highlanders
of Bavaria for making and eating the corpse-cakes. It is
a general belief in the lower culture that food communi-
cated its qualities to the eater. From the flesh of tigers
courage and strength, speed from that of stags, timidity
from that of hares, pass into those who eat them. The
same order of thought leads the Taridnas and other tribes
of the Uaupes to try to retain within the kindred the

1 A. R. Wallace, LL.D., A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and
Rio Negro^ 3rd ed. (1890), 346.

The Sin-Eate7\ 157

good qualities of a departed member by consuming his
body powdered in drink. The Bavarian peasant has passed
the stage whereat the coarse directness of this expedient
can be tolerated. He tries to achieve the same result by
the symbolical act of eating cakes baked of dough which
has been put upon the breast of the dead man to rise, and
has in rising absorbed his virtues. In the Sin-eater the
same act is put to another, but strictly analogous, use in the
absorption of the sins of the dead. Why it was supposed
that in the one case good, and in the other evil, properties
were communicated we do not know. Some variation in
the view taken of the matter by the clergy may have led
to the rite being considered disgraceful in Wales, and so
may have rendered those who persisted in it the objects of
persecution. Payment to undertake the odium, the con-
sequent degradation as well of the rite as of the person
who performed it, and the influence of the Biblical account
of the Hebrew Scape-goat may have done the rest. The
gifts of food to the poor, both in their intermediate form
described by Pennant, and in their final form as mere
doles, however, point to a different interpretation of the
same original observance. They can hardly be derived
from the Sin-eater ; their relation to it is not lineal but
collateral. They are variants of the ceremony, and
variants bearing the strongest testimony to the form and
meaning of the parent type.

E. Sidney Hartland.

SAAIOAN TALES.
II.

Fangono.i

TAFITOFAU and Ongafau had a daughter Sina, who
remained single. She was very beautiful, and the
handsome young men built houses near Sina. Although
there were so many handsome men Sina preferred Tingilau
A visiting party of Talingamaivalu came, but they did not
go to the house of Sina. He went to the house of Tafi-
tofau and Ongafau, lest Sina should see that his body was
full of pimples. His present of food was pigs and sharks.
The parents of Sina favoured his suit because they were
afraid lest they should be killed.-

When Sina knew that her parents favoured Talingamai-
valu she at once married Tingilau. Then the woman was
taken away. She was not taken to the east or to the
west, she was taken to Fiji.

Talingamaivalu came and looked into Sina's house ; she
was not there. He suspected that she had married. Then
he rushed at once after Tafitofau and Ongafau to kill
them. He asked, " Where is Sina ? " They answered,
" My lord, she is married."

Talingamaivalu went off and sought in the western
islands, and he reached the eastern islands and then got to
Fiji. He then tried to imitate the voice of her brother, but
did not succeed. Then he tried to imitate the voice of her
mother, and he succeeded. Then he awoke her, saying,

1 A Samoan tale communicated to me by the Rev. G. Pratt, through
Mr. John Fraser of Sydney.

2 Because he was a g^od. — G. Pratt.

Sanwan Tales. 159

" Sina ! Alas for this ungrateful girl ! What about the
chief. By-and-by we two shall be killed. Lift up the
house-blinds that I may give you the fine mats of your
dowry." Then Sina drew near, and Talingamaivalu took
hold of her and threw her across his shoulder. Tingilau
felt about, and Sina was not there.

Then he rushed away westward ; she was not there.
Again he rushed away eastward. He then went and
launched his canoe, and sought her in the Samoan group.
Then Tingilau sang mournfully :

" Do you nininini^ the sea of Nini,
The sea of Savaii leaped up,
The rain fell, the wind blew.
Report it to a god who has enemies.
He stands outside in the cold,
He urged to lift up the screens.
Seize him and cook him for chiefs,
That all Savaii may have a portion.
Had but your praises been shouted,

0 Sina, in the inland village." -

Then sang mournfully the woman Puanatalai :

"Tingilau, come inland here.
Do not make a noise, but listen
To the canoe at anchor in the lagoon.
There is the clotted blood.
It was the guess of Tingilaumaoto.
Draw^ near, let us sit together.
Tingilau, consider in your heart,
Shall I go or shall I remain ?

1 grieve, for I married in vain.
The heart of Tingilau cannot rest."

^ The meaning of this word is lost. — G. P.

- When a chief married a virgin his young men shouted the fact
through the village.— G. P.

1 60 Samoan Tales.

Then mournfully sang Tingilau :

"Woman Puanatalai,
It is said you are a princess.
Causelessly do you act,
Yield until you show respect,
Until your party come to sit with you,
Till I steer standing in my canoe
As if I had come on a begging journey.^
It was the pursuit of Sinaitauanga.
If she had had her praises shouted
You would have been quiet in the quiet sea.
The sea of the new moon rushes in
Shooting by its means the man
Talingamaivalu by name.
Catch him and cook him and tie him up,
Whether will all Samoa get a portion."

Then mournfully sang Sinaleuuna (she is in love with
Tingilau):

" Man, there is a canoe anchored in the lagoon,
It is the canoe of Tingilaumaolo.
Come near, that we may eat cold food."

Then Tingilau sang mournfully :

" Have I come on a begging journey ?
It is the pursuit of Sinaitauanga."

Then answ^ered Sinaleuuna :

" Do you go, for she has passed on.
You will nananana in the sea of Nana,
The sea of Aleipata rushes in.
Make an apology to those ashore,
To Puupu' and the Laulala,^
Fangapu and the Papaitufanga.
Had your praises but have been shouted,
O Sina, in the inland villages."

1 People sometimes went out to beg for artificial hooks, paddles, or
bowls.— G. P.

2 Names of districts.

Samoaii Tales. 1 6 1

Then mournfully sang Sangaialemalama :

" Do you depart hence,
A little more and you would have found her."

Then Tingilau went near to Tutuila and mournfully
sang:

" You will ninanina the sea of Nina,
The sea of Tutuila rushed in.
Make apologies to those ashore,
That is the country of Taema,
And the country of Sinataevaeva,
Shouting praises of my wife
Who was taken off by Talingafaua."

Then sang Taemala mournfully :

" Do you depart hence,
A little sooner and you would have found her."

Then Tingilau sang mournfully :

" O woman, thou Taema,
When I sang, you sang,
I did not follow up
Your refusal to hear.
Our names are proper,
Sinatauanga and Tingilau."

Then he came off Manua ; the King of Manua was seated
there. He said, " Friend Tingilau, do you return ? This
is the end of inhabited countries. If you go to the country
of gods, then you will die." He replied : " Asking your
presence. King of Manua ; with due respect to your speech,
O King of Manua, permit me to travel over the sea of
flying fish. Tingilau will perish in following his desire."
" Go, then, now that intercession and advice have been
offered."^ Then Tingilau went out into the great ocean,

^ In the MS. this sentence immediately follows the last one, but
as it seems to have been spoken by the king I have separated it.
-J. A.

VOL. III. M

i62 Samoan Tales.

and he arrived at the Puangangana.^ Then Tingilau sang
mournfully :

" Begging pardon, begging pardon,
Make apologies ashore to the Puangangana.
By this time were shouted praises
Of Sina in the inland villages."

Then answered the Puangangana: " Tingilau, you are
present ; Tingilau, you have come." Then the man sat still,
[being] afraid. Tingilau sang mournfully :

" The body of the pua, leaves of the pua,
The trunk of the pua, the top of the pua.
Be not angry, but let me ask
Whether is Sina's praise shouted in the inland villages?"

The pua answered : " Come here. What a chief this is to
run into danger ! How do you know that there are trees
which talk ? You have passed beyond the country of men,
you have come to the country of gods." The pua then
said : " You go, when I pass out of sight, then at once do
you jump down into the bottom of your canoe and leave
it with me whether you get to the country of Sinasengi,
where you will find your enemy."

Tingilau then went, and, when the pua was out of sight,
he at once leaped down into the bottom of his canoe. He
then prepared a fine mat, and was about to make the land
vanish. Then he went to look ; there was no one but
[something] like the body of a canoe and outrigger. " I will
go", said he, " for my fine mat. There it is in the rubbish
carried by the current." Then he sat with the fine mat.
The canoe of Tingilau was then beached, and he jumped
ashore, and clung to a cocoa-nut. Then he fell down and
slept. The birds fluttered about.

1 A large tree, Pua {Hernandia peltata), said to have the power ot
speech {ngatigand) . Cf. Turner, Savioa, p. 72 ; at p. 258 it is a
cocoa-nut tree that stands at the entrance to the lower regions.

Samoan Tales. 163

Then said Sinasengi : " Bother it ! what is the matter
with the birds ? There are two kinds of birds in my
country, the tarn and the heron." The woman went down
to visit the birds. She looked ; the man was not^ ; he was
burnt continually by the action of the sun at sea, there
was no body to the man,^ he was [like] the skin of a
paonga"'^ fruit. Then the woman Sinasengi fainted as if
dead. She revived again, and she [said] : " Stop a bit till I
startle him. If he is not startled he is a god ; if he is
startled he is a man. Catch you ! " The man was startled,
and said : " O lady, I was startled." Sinasengi said : " O
chief, you debase yourself on the beach, and leave good
mats and good houses and good cloth, and you debase
yourself on this bad place." Tingilau said : " Isu^ e, sina
sungalu, floating about I came and drew up my canoe in
this place."

They went up into the house. The woman went and
cooked an oven of food. She baked taro {Arum esculen-
timi) unscraped, and scraped taro ; she roasted a fowl un-
plucked, and a plucked fowl ; she baked a pig unsinged
and a pig singed. She opened the oven, and she laid out
the fowl that was broiled with its feathers, and the taro that
was baked with the skin. Tingilau called out and said :
" Lady, things are not done like this to visitors in our
country." Sinasengi then called aloud : " I abominate the
people who have brought the wrong things to the chief"
She went and took down the singed pig and the scraped
taro. The man ate.

The man married the woman and she had a child.
After some days he walked around and mourned because
he thought of his wife Sina. Sinasengi thought about
Tingilau wandering about, and she went to her Punga-

1 That is, he was so entirely changed from his former self — G. P.

2 The name of a tree {Pandamcs odoraiissimus) from the leaves of
which a house-mat is made.

^ An apologetic deprecatory word after having come suddenly into
the presence of chiefs. {Sam. Diet.)

M 2

1 64 Samoan Tales.

vavalo} Punga-vavalo asked, " Why have you come ? "
She said : " I have come because the conduct of my
husband has changed towards me." Punga-vavalo said :
" Did you think that Tingilau came \.o yon? He came for
his wife who was brought away by Talingamaivalu." The
woman came to Tingilau and said : " I know why you
wander about ; it is for your wife. Had I known, you
should have gone. But now go with some of my Punga-
vavalo, by which you will catch your enemy." Then his
crew embarked ; there were three with Tingilau, The
Punga-vavalo said : " When we two say ' Dive ! ' then do
you jump down. It is a difficult land in which Talinga-
maivalu lives in Papatealalo."^ Punga-vavalo said : "Tin-
gilau, jump ! " Tingilau jumped and dived down, and
reached the land. Punga-vavalo said : " Do you ask of a
lame man watching a grindstone the road to the country
of Talingamaivalu. If he directs you wrongly, do you kill
him ; then lift up the grindstone and you will see Talinga-
maivalu sunning himself"

The Punga-vavalo went to Sina and said : " We are
come with Tungilau. When he comes, receive him with
surprise, and say, ' [This is] my brother Pinono from
Savaii.' " The men came, and Sina welcomed them with
surprise, [exclaiming], " O Talingamaivalu, listen with your
eight ears,^ while I explain to you this is my brother
Pinono from Savaii." Talingamaivalu said, " My love to
you." Then he went and made an oven of food, and sang :

" If he eats the big tare
Her male friend is her husband.
If he eats the small taro
Her male friend is her brother."

He brought the food, and laid out the big taro. Tingilau

^ " Prophesying coral." Punga ■=■ coral, vavalo = predicting.
The name of two gods.^ — G. P.
^ A place under the sea. — G. P.
3 A reference to his name, talviga = ear, e valu = eight.

Sainoan Tales. 165

refused it. Talingamaivalu called out : " It is her brother."
Sina said : "Talingamaivalu, this chief desires to eat of my
plantation. It takes three months to reach it." Talinga
maivalu replied : " Well, what about it ?" The woman said :
" This chief has many gods. When you go, do not walk,.
but slide along. When you pull up taro, do not pull it up
with your hands, but pull it up with your toes. If you
hunt a pig, hunt a wild shy pig. When you draw salt
water, bale it up with a net. When you rub a light, rub it
on a banana. When you climb a cocoa-nut, go up with
your feet upwards." Talingamaivalu said : " Well, what
about it ? The prohibitions of the gods of No." ^

Then he prepared the oven of food. He chased a pig and
did not catch it ; he chased a fowl and did not catch it.
Then Talingamaivalu grew angry. He prepared his oven
of food. Sina and Tingilau ran away. They stretched
out the mosquito-screen, and under it they placed the
mallet for [preparing] native cloth and the kingfisher of
Tutiula. Talingamaivalu went and said : "Woman Sina!"
Sina did not answer. Then he went to awake her. She
did not answer. He lifted up the screen, and the kingfisher
jumped out and struck the eye of Talingamaivalu ; it was
blinded. Again he lifted it, and again the kingfisher
jumped up and struck the other eye and blinded it.
Talingamaivalu cried out : " This woman shall not
live." Talingamaivalu then threw himself down. The
woman was not there. Then he bit the mallet and broke
his teeth. The kingfisher- cried out : " Tingilau and Sina
have run away."

^ Abbreviation of Pinono. — G. P.

^ The kingfisher was regarded as the incarnation of Sa-fu!u-sa (of
the sacred feather) and of Taenia (gHttering black), both of them
war gods. (Turner, Sa/noa, pp. 48, 54.)

John Abercrombv.

GERMAN CHRISTMAS AND THE
CHRISTMAS- TREE.

ALL over the world wherever Germans dwell, whether
in their own land or in foreign countries, the
Christmas-tree is for them the chief ornament and symbol
of Christmas-time. Wherever you trace the origin of
the Christmas-tree outside Germany, you will find that
it has been introduced from the Fatherland. Up to the
year 1840 Great Britain did not know it. It was the
Prince Consort Albert of Sachsen-Coburg who brought it
to the Court of St. James. From there it slowly found its
way through the aristocracy and the wealthier merchant
classes to the whole of the city of London. Nowadays the
custom of having a Christmas-tree is very common all over
England. In Scotland and Ireland few are to be found
in families. In Scotland the tree plays its part only at
children's parties or charitable festivities. But while in
Germany the Christmas-tree is used entirely as a bright
ornament, presents, often wrapped in paper, are hung on
it in England, which spoil its appearance. In some parts
the tree is so small that it is handed round after dinner,
before the ladies retire, with all the presents hanging on it,
and everyone takes off the gift intended for him. In
Germany all the presents lie on the table, bright with the
light from the many candles and the reflection of all the
gold and silver tinsel which decorates the large Christmas-
tree.

In France, especially Paris, the Christmas-tree has only
been known for the last sixty years. In 1830, the Duches
Helena of Orleans imported it from Germany. From the

German Christmas and the Chrtstmas-Tree. 167

Tuileries it has gradually spread over the whole French
capital. The Empress Eugenie was very fond of it, and
did a great deal to introduce the custom. Until now it
has been always looked upon in France as entirely German
and especially Alsatian — an opinion which is very nearly
accurate.

When, in i860, Christmas was celebrated for the first
time in the German St. Joseph's School in the Vilette, the
gentlemen who had arranged the fete went to every market
to get a fir-tree. At last they succeeded in finding a very
small one, about three feet high, which had been exposed
for sale by some chance.

In 1869 fir-trees could be got at most of the markets in
Paris. In 1870 the German armies celebrated their Christ-
mas in German fashion in France, and many bright lights
shone forth on that Christmas Eve. To-day, Paris requires
every year 40,000 Christmas-trees, one-fourth of which are
used by German, old Alsatian, Austrian, and Swiss
families.

Contrary to the custom in Germany, where the tree is
sawed off above the root, and fixed on a wooden cross
painted green, or planted in a small garden, decorated
with moss, the Frenchman takes the tree out with the
roots, wraps straw around them, and thus puts it into the
room, often planting it in the garden after it has done its
duty as an ornament of Yuletide.

To the Netherlands, Russia, especially St. Petersburg
and Moscow — where, however, it is only the custom among
the better classes— and to Italy, the Christmas-tree has also
come from Germany.

Milan, a semi-German town, cultivates the custom ex-
tensively ; and in Rome and Naples the bright Christmas-
tree can be seen illuminating the gloom of Christmas Eve in
many other homes besides those of the German artists
who have taken up their abode in the sunny south. In
Hungary the custom first began in 1830, and it is still con-
fined to the aristocracy and the Germans settled there

1 68 German Christmas and the Christinas-Tree.

In the beginning of this century Christmas-trees were
unknown in Sweden, in the German sense at least. It was
the custom there to place fir- or pine-trees in front of the
houses. So, at any rate, Finn Magnusen reports, in his
Lexicon Mythologicuin ; and he adds, that the Danes and
Norwegians did the same, but inside the house. To the
insular Swedes and the Russians around the Baltic coast,
in Dago and Worms, the Christmas-tree had at that time
already been introduced from Germany. The fir, decorated
with nuts and apples, carried five candles on each branch.
On the Swedish mainland it was the custom in some
places for the peasants to go to a field where a solitary tree
stood, to put fire to it, and then perform a dance around it
amid shouts of joy.

Everywhere where the Christmas-tree custom has been
adopted we find that German emigrants, German sailors
from merchant vessels, or German men-of-war, have first
introduced it.

It has taken the deepest root in the United States, where
there is so much of the German element. There, nobody
looks upon it any more as something especially German ;
families of all nationalities have adopted the fairy-tree.
Even the spirit of invention of the 19th century has got
hold of it. Trees are made of moulded iron. Through the
hollow trunk and branches gas-pipes are conducted, and
instead of the modest light of the little wax candle, the
glaring gas jet bursts forth from this artificial production
of the ironfounder.

The Christmas-tree and German Christmas are ideas
closely connected in the mind of every non-German.
Most Germans feel the same. A Christmas without a
tree is no real Christmas. In the lonely garret of the old
maid, to whom it brings back for a moment happy child-
hood and hopeful youth ; in the squalid cellar of the poorest
workman, with his too large family, everywhere we may
find, be it ever so small, a specimen of this symbol of
Christmas-time. At every Clwistmnrkt (Christmas-fair)

German Christmas and the Christmas-Tree. 169

are to be found tiny trees, with two or three bits of taper
stuck on, and a few ornaments of coloured paper and tinsel,
which are eagerly bought by those who cannot afford any-
thing better. The lights of the Christmas-tree shine as far
as the German tongue is spoken, from the east of Prussia
to Alsatia, from the Baltic and the German Ocean to
the south of the Danube. The custom has even been
introduced into the Protestant church-service. In the
mountainous tracts of Saxony, and in other districts, a
Christmas-tree ablaze with lights is placed on the altar
during the Christmas-service, which is celebrated at six
o'clock on Christmas-morning. Everyone attending ser-
vice brings a candle or small lanthorn, until, when the
church is full, the whole interior is one flood of light.

Wherever in modern German literature we find a de-
scription of Christmas, everything centres around the
Christmas-tree.

In a small ballad Carl Bleibtreu has described the
celebration of Christmas among the Germans of the
Foreign Legion in the trenches before Sebastopol, during
the Crimean war. The lights of the fir-tree blaze up, and
their brightness becomes a target for the Russian artillery,
so that in a few minutes all the merry warriors lie
prostrated by the deadly shell. In Herrmann Bahr's Die
neuen Menschen (The new Men), the Christmas-tree is used
as a symbol of man's affection for the old customs of
childhood. And in Gerhard Hauptmann's Fricdensfesi
(The Festival of Peace) it is the token of peace, which
two blessed women, mother and daughter, carry into a
family which has been at war within itself and with the
world.

How typical the Christmas-tree is for German Christmas
is illustrated by Sidney Whitman, who uses it in that sense,
in his article on the German and the British workman.

But, for all that, not every home, not every family in
Germany knows it. In the German Empire we find large
districts where it is not customary or even known. In

1 70 German Christmas and the Christmas- Tree.

some parts they celebrate St. Nicolas Eve, New Year's Eve,
or the Three Kings, instead of the 24th of December, and
have no tree on these days.

Generally speaking, the custom of having a Christmas-
tree is more common in the north of Germany, the part
best known to English people, than in the south. Es-
pecially in Catholic districts, it is supplanted by the garden,
containing the groups of Jesus in the manger, the Virgin
Mary, Joseph, with the ox and ass. We find this Christmas-
garden, as it is called, both at home and in the churches.
For all that, the Christmas-tree has long since broken
through the barrier of different creeds, and many Jewish
families have adopted it to celebrate Yuletide.

In many homes, father or grandfather tell the children
while sitting in the gloaming in the Christmas-room, filled
with the pregnant odour of the fir-wood and wax-candles —
a fragrance dear to every German — how it used to be when
tJiey were children, and listened with a beating heart for
the sound of the bell which would admit them to all the
joys and splendour dreamt of for so long. And so people
think that it has always been thus, and that there never
was a time when no bright tree graced merry Christmas-
tide.

The most popular idea nowadays is, that the custom is a
remnant of the old tree-worship. Others believe it to be
of Christian origin. The 24th of December is the day of
Adam and Eve. From there to the tree bearing the fruit
of knowledge it is not far. In the New Testament, Jesus
is often called a branch of the root of David. These
pictures were familiar to all classes in the Middle Ages.
Some sought for the origin in the seven-branched candle-
stick of the Jewish temple, but not one of these assump-
tions is well founded. In legend we also find many tales
relating to it.

One Christmas Eve, Luther, so the story goes, was
wandering across country. Clear and pure the night sky
arched overhead, bright with thousands of stars. The

German Christuias and the Christmas- Tree. 1 7 1

picture impressed itself strongly on his mind, and when he
came home, he immediately went out and cut a fir-tree in
a neighbouring wood, and covering it with small candles,
placed it in, the room, in order to give his little ones an idea
of the nocturnal heavens, with their countless lights, from
whence Jesus descended to the earth. But this legend is
not yet a century old. It probably took its source from a
picture by Schwerdtgeburth — " Luther taking Leave of his
Family." Here the artist shows Luther's family around the
Christmas-tree, but he has as little historical foundation for
this as Scheffel has when he introduces a Christmas-tree
into his Ekkehani in the tenth century.

In Lindenau, a suburb of Leipsic, a legend is told that
the Christmas-tree was introduced there during the Thirty
Years' War from Sweden. In the autumn of 1632, the
battle of LiJtzen had been fought, in which Gustavus
Adolphus, King of Sweden, had been killed. For many
months, wounded soldiers of the victorious Swedish army
were quartered in the neighbourhood. In Lindenau there
was a Swedish officer who had been shot through the
hand, and who was nursed with great kindness by the
people in the Protestant village. His wound healed
quickly, and at Christmas-time he was well enough to
leave ; but, before going back to his own country, he
wanted to thank the people in some tangible way, and so
he asked the clergyman to allow him to arrange a Christ-
mas-festival as he used to know it in his own northern
home. He got the permission, and there, for the first time,
a fir-tree covered with lights was seen in the old church.
This story, like many others, seems to have no historical
foundation. It is simply a charming little legend.

The Christmas-tree is certainly not as old as one gene-
rally assumes. There are many descriptions of German
Yuletide festivities during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and
eighteenth centuries, in none of which it is mentioned.
Some of these are very minute, and we have a right to
conclude from this that, at that time, and in those places

\^2 Gei'man Christmas and the Christmas- Tree.

of which the description speaks, the Christmas-tree was
unknown. The oldest record we have of a Christmas-tree
dates from 1604, i" Strasburg, in Alsace. It is a descrip-
tion, by a citizen of that town, of all the peculiar customs
prevalent there at that time, to which he gave the title of
Memorabilia quaedani Argentorati observata. After de-
scribing how the church-service is conducted, he gives an
account of a children's festival : " At Christmas-time each
child is taught a hymn or a verse from the Bible, which the
boys have to say on Christmas Day, and the girls on New
Year's Day, after saying which each child receives one, two,
three, or four farthings, and sometimes a small book. As a
contrast to this, the writer later on describes the Christmas
in the house of the citizen :

" At Christmas, a fir-tree is put into the room, on which
are hung roses made of coloured paper, apples, wafers,
tinsel, sweetmeats, etc. Usually a square frame is made
around it." It is impossible to decipher the writing after
this, as the paper is quite torn.

So in 1604 the Christmas-tree (but without candles) was
already quite common in Strasburg. The next mention
we find of the subject comes from the same place. In the
years 1642-1646, Professor Dannhauer, D.D., in Strasburg,
wrote a very learned book, entitled CatechismusmilcJi (The
Milk of the Catechism). The professor was an orthodox
Protestant ; the Church was to him everything, secular life
nothing. He was indignant that the people of Strasburg
celebrated Christmas in their home, instead of devoting all
their time to religious rites, and so he says : " Among
other trifles with which they commemorate Christmas-time
often more than with the word of God, is the Christmas,
or fir-tree, which is erected at home. It is hung with dolls
and sweetmeats, and afterwards shaken and plundered.
Whence this custom came I do not know ; it is child's-
play. It would be much better to direct the children
towards the spiritual tree of Jesus Christ."

To all appearances the Christmas-tree was still a local

Gernian Christmas and the Christmas-Tree, i "j^i

custom in the extreme west of Germany in Alsace, perhaps
only in Strasburg. The rest of the country did not know-
it at that time, just as little as other lands. And it seems
to have taken a long time to spread. More than two
hundred years elapsed before it had penetrated to all parts
of the Fatherland. For nearly a century we find no
record of the Yule-tree. In the year 1737 it reappears,
strange to say, on the eastern frontier of Germany, near
where the Slavonic element begins. In 1737, a young
doctor of law, Gottfried Kissling, from Zittau, became
Lecturer in Wittenberg, the famous university where Luther
and Melancthon had taught. As ^^ priinitics acadcmic(z'\
he wrote a very learned Latin dissertation, entitled About
Christinas Presents. He is very wroth about all the
malpractices of his native town at Christmas-time, and
goes on to say : " If it is necessary that the giving of
presents should be accompanied by certain ceremonies, I
like the way best in which a lady who lived in the country
used to arrange the matter, . . . On the evening preceding
the birthday of our Lord, she placed as many small trees
in her rooms as there were persons to whom she wanted to
make presents. By the height, ornament, and arrangement
everyone could see which tree was intended for him. As
soon as the presents had been divided and arranged, and
the candles lighted on the trees, all the people entered in
succession, looked at the things, and took possession each
of the tree and presents intended for him."

Here we find the first mention of candles on the
Christmas-tree. It is strange that each person got a sepa-
rate tree ; nowadays there is only one tree for all.

So far these are the only records which have come to
light, but after the first half of the eighteenth century the
reports multiply. The Christmas-tree penetrates into
literature proper, A mention of it by the author Jung
Stilling, seems to show that it was familiar to him in the
days of his childhood. He was born in 1740, in Grund, in
Nassau, and probably it must have been the custom there

1 74 German Christmas and the Ch^'istmas- T7xe.

at that time already. In his HcimweJi (Home Sickness),
which was pubHshed for the first time in 1793, he says:
" At the sound of these words I felt like the child listening
to the apocryphal words of his mother on the day before
Christmas ; it has a presentiment of something glorious,
but does not understand anything until it awakens in the
morning, and is conducted to the illuminated tree of life,
with the gilded nuts and the little lambs, the figure of the
child Jesus, dolls, and plates with apples and sweetmeats."
That sounds like a recollection of childhood.

Apart from this passage, it is Goethe who has first im-
mortalised the Christmas-tree in German literature. In
Goethe's birthplace, Frankfurt am Main, the Christmas-
tree was unknown, and so young Goethe presumably passed
his childhood without ever seeing one. For all that, the
great poet got acquainted with the custom early in life, at
the time when he was studying in Leipsic. According to
Kunst und Leben (Art and Life), by Friedrich Forster,
young Goethe saw the tree for the first time in 1765, in the
house of Theodor Korner's grandmother, the wife of the
engraver Stock, in Leipsic. The tree was there decorated
with bonbons, and underneath were placed the manger with
the child Jesus, made of sugar, and the Virgin Mary, also
Joseph, and the ox and the ass. In front of it there stood
a little table with brown gingerbread for the children.

In another book we find even more particulars. In
GoetJies GesprticJie (Goethe's Conversations), edited by
Biedermann, the daughter of the house, who afterwards
married the lawyer Korner, who became Schiller's most
intimate friend, gives a description of her acquaintance
with young Goethe in the year 1767: "Goethe and my
father (the engraver Stock) got into such high spirits, that
they arranged a Christmas-tree covered with sweetmeats,
on Christmas Eve for Jolly." So it appears that at that
time the Christmas-tree was looked upon as something
suitable for a joke, a proof that it was not yet an esta-
blished custom. Athough Goethe's letters of that period

German ChrisUnas and the Christ mas-T7'ee. 175

to his sister, which generally mention all the news, do not
contain an allusion to this matter, we may look upon it as
authentic, as it is vouched for by two witnesses.

A few years later, 1770-71, Goethe stayed in Strasburg.
If he had not yet known the Christmas-tree at that period,
he would have been sure to have got acquainted with it
here, in its old home.

From the year 1785 we have written testimony that the
custom was at that time still in use in Strasburg.

In her Manoires the Baroness Oberkirch relates as
follows : " Nous passames I'hiver a Strasbourg, et a
r^poque de Noel nous allames, comme de coutume, au
Christkindelsmarkt. Cette foire, qui est destinee aux
enfants, se tient pendant la semaine qui precede Noel et
dure jusqu'a minuit Le grand jour arrive, on pre-
pare dans chaque maison le Tannenbaum, le sapin couvert
de bougies et de bonbons, avec une grande illumination, on
attend la visite du Christkindel (le petit Jesus) qui doit
recompenser les bons petits enfants, mais on craint aussi le
Hanstrapp, qui doit chercher et punir les enfants des-
obeissants et mechants." After staying in Strasburg
Goethe went to Wetzlar, where it seems the Christmas-
tree was as yet unknown. This is evident from Goethe's
letters to Kestner, 1772-73.

In the year 1772 Goethe sent a parcel accompanied by a
letter to his friend Kestner, the husband of Goethe's old
love, Charlotte Buff, shortly before Christmas. In his
writing he says, that if he were with them he would like to
light many wax-tapers for the little boys (Lotte's brothers),
so that it would be like a reflection of heaven in their little
minds. But he mentions nothing of the Christmas-tree.
So it appears that Goethe never saw Lotte under it, and it
is purely a picture drawn from imagination which associated
it with her in his work, Leiden des jungen WertJier, and by
that introduced it for the first time into German Literature.
Already Werther loves Lotte passionately, his nerves arc
unstrung and his suicide is imminent. It is the evening of

1/6 German Christmas and the Christmas-Tree.

the 20th of December, the Sunday before Christmas, when
Werther visits Lotte. " She was busy making some toys
which she wished to give to her little brothers and sisters at
Christmas. She talked of the delight the children would
feel, and of the days when the unexpected opening of the
door, and the sight of the tree ornamented with candles,
sweets, and apples, made one feel all the joys of paradise.
' You are,' said Lotte, trying to hide her confusion under a
sweet smile, 'you are to get something too, if you are very
good, a wax-taper and something else.' " During the first
years of Goethe's stay in Weimar the custom does not
seem to have been known there. There is no mention of
it made anywhere, although we have many reminiscences of
that time.

Frau Rat, the poet's mother, used always to send him
Frankfort marzipan cake, and he invariably gave some of
it to his friend Frau von Stein. On the 30th December
1 78 1 he writes to her : " I must send you a piece of holiday
cake, in order to satisfy my longing to see you in some
degree."

It was very rare for him to spend Christmas in Weimar
itself; as soon as the snow was lying on the ground he
wandered away to the hills. He has never again treated
Christmas poetically after that first sketch, although he
might have found a subject worthy of his muse in many
Christmas rejoicings, which must have impressed them-
selves on his mind, especially one in 1796 at Frau von
Stein's, with all the attributes of Christmas-tree, candles,
and presents.

Schiller has never described any Christmas scenes in his
works, although he loved the festival with its bright tree.
At Christmas time in 1789, a hundred years ago, when he
was already secretly betrothed to Lotte v. Lengefeld, who
was at that time staying with her sister Caroline in
Weimar, while her mother was in Rudolphstadt, he was
invited to spend Christmas with a family of the name of
Griesbach. He was at that time professor of history in

German Christmas and the Christvias-Tree. 177

Jena. He had already accepted the invitation, but he
wrote again to say that he could not come, his beloved
called him to Weimar. He sent a note to her, saying :
" On Thursday I'll come to Weimar ; do not accept any
engagements for Christmas Eve. I hope you will decorate
a pretty tree for me, as you are the cause of my missing the
one at Griesbach." He had just asked Frau von Lengefeld
for the hand of her daughter. In Weimar he received
the answer : " Yes, I will give you the best and dearest
I still possess, my good Lottchen." A year later, the
Christmas-tree shed its lustre in his own home, and he
stood beneath it with his wife.

In 1799 no Christmas-trees were to be found at the
Christmas-fair in Leipsic, although the custom is men-
tioned as far back as 1767.

In 1807 Christmas-trees were to be had in Dresden at
the time of the winter solstice, ornamented with gold tinsel,
coloured bits of paper, gilded nuts, and candles.

In Hamburg Christmas-trees were well known as early
as 1796, and in 1805 Johann Peter Hebel dedicated a
poem to the Yule-tree in his " Allemanic Poems". In
Berlin it can be traced to 1780, but the pine or Scotch fir
was used there, not the bright green fir common now.

It was only by degrees that the fir imported from
the Hartz supplemented the pine, and now we only find
that gloomy tree in use in the poor eastern districts of
Berlin.

At the beginning of the present century, the elite of
Berlin did not practise the custom, as it was not fashionable
among the French emigrants, and was looked upon as
vulgar. Instead of that, according to Schleiermacher's
Weihnachtsfeier (Christmas Celebration), they used to
decorate the table on which the presents were laid with
myrtle, amarynth, and ivy. About the year 1816, how-
ever, we find that the Christmas-tree was adopted in all the
homes by rich and poor in Berlin.

In the fairy-tale of the Nutcradcer, by Fouque and

VOL. III. N

178 German Christmas and the Christmas-Tree.

Hoffmann, we have the Christmas-tree with its golden
apples as the principal feature of the festival. After the
beginning of the century, Prussians brought it to all
parts of Germany, where it was till then unknown. It
was especially by the frequent changes which took place
with the frontiers of the German states, through the Congress
of Vienna, that the custom was spread. Prussian officers
and officials brought it to the west to Westphalia, and to
the east to Dantzic. In Munich it was only introduced in
1S30 by the Queen Caroline, the wife of Louis I of
Bavaria. After that all the principal places in Germany
accepted it.

It lies in the nature of the Yule festival that the tree
which graces it must be of the cuniferous tribe, for, at that
time, all other trees in the forest are bare. But, for all
that, it seems that in many places people tried, and often
succeeded, in having trees with foliage and blossoms at
Christmas-time.

We still possess an etching by Joseph Keller, entitled
*' Christbescherens, oder der frohliche Morgen" (Christmas
Gifts, or the Happy Morning), which must have been
executed about the year 1790 at Nuremberg. This
drawing shows us, in the corner of a room, a tree in the
full splendour of its foliage, hung with ornaments just like
those used to-day, and decorated with candles, two of
which are borne by an angel suspended from the centre
of the tree. This shows that foliage-trees must have been
used formerly.

There is a report from Nordlingen relating to about
the same time and place. It is the autobiography of the
painter, Albrecht Adam, who was born in Nordlingen in
1786. He says : " In Nordlingen we don't have the dark
fir-tree for Christmas ; instead of that a small cherry or
apricot-tree is planted, months before, in a pot, and placed
in the corner of the room. Generally these trees are
covered with blossoms at Christmas-time, and fill up the
whole corner of the room. This is looked upon as a great

German Christmas and the Christmas- Tree. iy<^

ornament, which certainly adds much to the beauty of the
Christmas-festival. One family vies with the other, and
the one who has the finest blossoms on their tree is very
proud of it."

The custom of having these kinds of trees does not
seem isolated. In Austrian Silesia, the peasant women to
this day sally forth at twelve o'clock at night on St.
Andrew's Day to pluck a branch of the apricot-tree, which
is put in water so that it may flower at Christmas-time
With this flowering branch they go to the Christmas Mass
and it gives them the faculty of discerning all the witches
whilst the clergyman is saying the blessing ; each witch is
seen carrying a wooden pail on her head. In some parts
of Austria, every member of the family cuts a branch of
cherry, apricot, or pear-tree on the day of St. Barbara.
Poor people offer them for sale under the name of " Bar-
bara branches". In order that each may recognise their
own branch, they are all marked, and then put into a dish
with water, and placed on the stove. The water is renewed
every second day. About Christmas-time, white blossoms
burst forth, and the one whose branch blooms first or best
may expect some good luck in the following year. In the
Tyrol they even try to force a cherry-tree into blossom in
the open air. The first Thursday in Advent they put lime
into the ground underneath a cherry-tree, and then it
flowers at Yuletide. Near Meran it is customary to put
dry branches into water, so that they may flower at
Christmas-time.

All these usages, just as the Christmas-tree with its
artificial flowers and fruits, its candles and paper blossoms,
its golden apples and nuts, have their origin in an ancient
legend about the winter solstice, which is found among the
East Teutonic tribes of Iceland, and also among the West
Teutonic peoples — the Germans and the English — so it
must be assumed to be an old tradition of both.

There is no night in the year about which so much is
told that is strange and wonderful as about the night from

N 2

1 80 Ge7^man Christmas and the Christ7?ias- Tree.

the 24th to the 25th of December. In this night, according
to popular beHef, the New Year begins, by the sun turning
on its course. At the moment when the sun stands still
(as the stone when thrown rests for an instant in mid-air),
at that moment there is rent a split in time, through which
eternity is seen with all its wonders. Mountains open,
treasures rise to the surface of the earth, all the water which
runs over the stones in one minute turns to wine, the Wild
Huntsman rushes through the air, the dead arise and hold a
midnight service, the beasts of the forest kneel down and
pray, the horses in the stable receive the faculty of human
speech for an hour, and the plant-world is endowed with
life and blossoming powers for the same period.

In Iceland there goes the tale that once upon a time at
Modhrufell, in the Eyjafiord, a mountain-ash stood, which
had sprung from the blood of two innocent persons who
had been executed there. Every Christmas-night this
tree was found covered with lights, which even the strongest
gale could not extinguish. These lights were its wonderful
blossoms.

In German folk-lore we find the legend about the
blossoming-trees of Christmas amongst the peasantry as
far back as the fifteenth century up to the present day.
The oldest mention of it dates back to the year 1426. It
is a letter of the Bishop of Bamberg, which is at present
in the Court Library of Vienna. About 1430, a chronicle-
writer of Nuremberg tells us the story with all its par-
ticulars : " Not far from Nuremberg there stood a wonderful
tree. Every year in the coldest season, in the night of
Christ's birth, this tree put forth blossoms and apples, as
thick as a man's thumb. At this time our native land is
usually covered with deep snow for two months before and
after, and cold winds sweep across it. Therefore it caused
great wonderment that at this holy time the apples came
forth ; so that several reliable people come from Nurem-
berg and the neighbourhood, and watch throughout the
night to see if it is true." A similar tree is found in a place

German Christinas and the Christmas- Tree. 1 8 1

near Bamberg. During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and
eighteenth centuries we have many similar records in
Germany.

In England, too, the legend of the flowering tree of Yule-
tide is known. Until the year 1753 the old reckoning ac-
cording to the Julian calendar had been used, by which the
New Year commenced on the 25th of March. As all other
civilised states had already adopted the Gregorian calendar,
the alteration of the New Year, and the change from the
old to the new calendar, was accomplished without op-
position on the part of the people in England. It was
only in Buckinghamshire that a rebel rising threatened,
and the cause of this was an old belief which was
threatened by the new calendar.

In the old English legend Joseph of Arimathaea plays
a part. His figure is also connected with the story of the
Holy Grail, which was widespread all through the Middle
Ages. Of Joseph of Arimathaea it is told, that he once
planted a staff on Christmas Eve which he had cut years
ago from a hawthorn. It immediately took root and put
forth leaves, and the next day was covered with blossoms.
For many years this bush used to be in full bloom on
Christmas night, and any cutting taken from it had the
same miraculous power. Many of the bushes had withered
and died in the course of centuries. Only one had sur-
vived, which stood on a mound in the churchyard of the
Abbey of Glastonbury. In the reign of Charles I, it was
still the custom to have a stately procession on Christ-
mas Day, and to bring a branch of Glastonbury thorn,
plucked the preceding night and always in full bloom, to
the King and Queen. At the time of the civil war between
the King and Parliament this wonderful bush was burned
during an attack on the abbey. But not even then was
the miraculous plant quite exterminated : a cutting had
been planted some time before in Quainton in Bucking-
hamshire, and it also blossomed every Christmas night,
although it was covered with blossoms in early summer

1 82 German Christmas and the Christmas-Tree.

like every other hawthorn-bush. During the night of the
24th to 25th December, in the year 1753, New S., a
large crowd had gathered with torches, candles, and Ian-
thorns around the wonderful bush, anxious to behold the
development of the white blossoms. Midnight struck, but
the bush remained bleak and dead : no sign of life could be
detected. After waiting in vain till dawn, the people dis-
persed, but the excitement still continued.

There was no doubting possible : the new Christmas Day
was not the right one. The authorities had already decided
to exterminate the bush, when lo and behold, on the 5th of
January, the old Christmas Day, it stood in full bloom.

This of course heightened popular feeling, and the clergy,
seeing that stricter measures would only make matters
worse, effected a compromise, and so both the old and the
new Christmas Day were celebrated alike.

At what date the hawthorn-bush at Quainton became
aware of its chronological error, and changed its day of
miraculous blossoming to suit the Gregorian calendar, is not.
known.

Alexander Tille.

THE BAKER OF BEAULY.

A Highland Version of the Tale of the
" Three Precepts".

THE following Highland version of the folk-tale of the
"Three Precepts" was got by me in 1887 from Dr.
Corbet, Beauly, and published in the original Gaelic in the
Celtic Magazine for July of that year. As I see that Mr.
Jacobs is unaware of the existence of this Gaelic rendering
of the tale, from the fact of his not mentioning it in his
notes to the " Tale of Ivan" in his excellent book of Celtic
Fairy Tales, I here give an English literal translation of
it.

Dr. Corbet heard it nigh thirty years ago from the lips of
a farm-hand of the name of MacCallum, resident then at
Bogroy, near Inverness. An Aberdeen friend informed me
that in his younger days — some two-score years ago — he
remembered seeing the story printed on the old broad-
sheets, like the story of "Long Pack" and others, and sold
at feeing markets and by pedlars throughout the country.
Whether this Aberdeenshire English version was exactly
the same as the Gaelic one here translated, my friend could
not distinctly vouch ; but the general outlines were cer-
tainly the same. That the story of the " Three Precepts"
was known among the Gaels in mediaeval times, is evi-
denced by its being woven into the tale of the " Wander-
ings of Ulysses", of which indeed it forms the last and
principal text. Dr. Kuno Meyer has published a corrected
text and translation of this Gaelic-Irish piecc,^ and he

^ Merugiid Uilix Make Leirtis, The Irish Odyssey. D. Nutt, London,
1886.

184 The Baker of Beaidy.

points out in his preface how the author must have made
use of the story of the Tres Sapiential, sold to Domitian,
as related in the Gesta Roviajioniin. The Gesta story
contains the " Three Precepts" exactly as in the Scottish
Gaelic tale, but the incidents in proof of the " Precepts" are
entirely different. For the " Precept" in regard to staying
in the house of an ill-matched couple, the early Irish
version substitutes the advice never to travel until the sun
is up. In the Cornish tale of "Ivan" the incidents and
advices are practically the same as in the Gaelic version
here produced. I have to thank Mr. W. A. Clouston for
some further notes which he sent me when the Gaelic
version first appeared. Here follows the tale referred to.

Alex. MacBain.

At the time of the Battle of Culloden there lived in
Beauly a widow who had an only son, whose name was
Donald Fraser. He went along with the rest of the Clan
Fraser to the battle. The rebels were defeated, and
Donald fled to Beauly as fast as his legs could carry him.
His poor mother was glad to see him back again unlamed,
unwounded, sound and healthy, poor, hungry, and tired as
he was. He, however, knew that his life would be en-
dangered if he stayed in his mother's bothy for one night,
as the red-coats were in pursuit of those that helped the
Prince, though it was by the press-gang the most of the
Frasers were compelled to join Lord Lovat, who was after-
wards beheaded. He was thus a wanderer for three years,
taking shelter in the hills, hollows, rocks, woods, and caves
that lie between the Bannock Loch and Birds' Loch in the
heights of Beauly. On a certain day at the end of three
years, he says to his mother : " Woman, I feel tired of my
life ; we are now reduced to poverty, and destitute of both
meat and clothes. I will go and try if I can get work, come
what may."

The Baker of Beatily. 185

"You will not go," says she, "till first you get your
mother^s bannock and blessing."

She made a Beltane bannock ready for him in the morn-
ing, and thus with the bannock and his mother's blessing
he set out for Inverness. There he got no work to do.
From Inverness he proceeded to Nairn, where he got work.
He took up his lodgings in the house of an old man who
had an only daughter. By-and-by Donald began to court
the girl and married her. On the night of the wedding
whatever came into Donald's head, he got up, put on his
clothes, went away and left her there. On he travelled till
he arrived at Keith, where he tried to get work, but failed.
Thence he proceeded to Huntly, but could find no work
there. At last he was on the verge of starvation, for bread
or drink he had not tasted since he had left Nairn. There
was no alternative for him but to go and beg. He went
into a baker's shop and said, " In the name of God, give
me something to eat, for I am dying of hunger."

" Bread or drink you will not get from me, you nasty
beast," says the baker. " If I were giving to every one of
your class that comes the way, I would not have much left
to myself."

" Oh," says poor Donald, " don't allow me to die of
hunger ; give me food, and I will do anything you ask
me."

" What could you do ?" says the baker.

" I can work," says Donald.

"But," says the baker, "I don't want a workman just
now, and I am sure you cannot bake."

" But could I not learn ?" says Donald.

" Undoubtedly you could learn," says the baker, " but it
would take you seven years to do so."

" Give me food," says Donald, " and to-morrow morning
I'm your man."

He served the baker for seven years, and at the end of
the seven years, says the baker to Donald : " I am well
pleased with you. You served your time honestly, and

1 86 The Baker of Beauty.

to-day I do not know where there is a better tradesman
than you. I do not know how I will get on without you ;:
but if you will stay with me for another seven years, I will
give you this (mentioning the wages) for the past seven
years and the seven to come."

"To-morrow morning," says Donald, " I'm your man."

He served the baker for the second seven years, and at
the end of the seven years the same agreement was made
between them as at the end of the first seven years, with
this difference, however, that at the end of the seven years
Donald was to receive double the wages he had got for the
fourteen years he had already served. They agreed as
usual, and honest Donald served the baker for twenty-one
years. At the expiry of the twenty-one years, the baker
says to Donald : " You are now at the end of three seven
years, and if you will serve me for another period of seven
years, I will give you as much pay for the seven as you
have to get for the twenty-one that are past."

" No, I will not stay for one year more," says Donald ; " I
will go home and see my wife.'^

" Your wife ?" says the baker; " have you a wife ? You're
a strange man ; you have been here for twenty-one years,.
and no one ever heard you say you had a wife. But now, '
says the baker, " which would you rather : your three
wages or three advices."

" Oh," says Donald, " I cannot answer that question till
I get the advice of a wiser man than myself ; but I will
tell you in the morning."

Donald came down early in the morning as he had
promised.

" What now ?" asked the baker. " Which are you going^
to take — the three wages or the three advices ?"

" The three advices," says Donald.

" Well, the first advice is," says the baker : " Keep the
proper roundabout road ; the second advice is : Do not
stay in a house where there is a young, beautiful wife, with
an old surly husband ; and the third advice is : Think

The Baker of Beauly. 187

thrice before you ever lift your hand to strike anyone.
And here is money for you to take you home, and also
three loaves of bread ; but remember that you will neither
look at them nor take them asunder till you do so at your
wife's knee, so that they may be the means of making
peace between you, for you are so long away from her
that it is hard to say whether she is alive or dead, or how
will she welcome you."

Donald at once set off for Nairn. His intention was to
stay the first night at Keith, and next night he would be at
home. On the road between Huntly and Keith he over-
took a pedlar, who greeted him kindly, and asked him
where he was going. Donald told him he was going to
Keith. The pedlar said he was very glad, as he was going
there too ; and the conversation they would have on the
road would make them feel the journey shorter.

Thus they went along till they came to a wood, when
the pedlar said : " There is a short cut through this wood
which will shorten our journey to Keith by three miles,
besides taking the road."

" Take it, then," says Donald, " Dear have I paid for
the advice. I'll take the road."

The pedlar took the short cut through the wood, but did
not proceed far when Donald heard cries of " Murder !
Murder !"

Off he set through the wood to help the pedlar, who was
after being robbed by two robbers.

" You now see the force of my advice," Donald says.
" You are robbed, and you may be thankful you were not
murdered, let alone the time we have lost. We will not
reach Keith to-night."

They came to a farmer's house at the roadside, and as it
was late, and they were still a good way from Keith, they
went in and asked if they could get lodgings for the night.
This they got from the inmates, who were sitting round a
good fire, in a frank and pleasant manner. They also got a
good warming and plenty to eat.

1 88 The Baker of Beauly.

Donald saw the farmer's wife, a young and charming
woman. An old, grey, blear-eyed, unkempt man came in
after her. But when he had come in, Donald says to the
pedlar, " I will not stay here any longer. Dear have I paid
for the advice."

" Surely you are not going to take the road at this time
of night," says the pedlar ; " and if you won't stay in the
house, you can sleep in the barn."

Donald agreed to this proposal, and he went to sleep in
the barn with his clothes on. He had a wisp of straw for
a pillow, a wisp of straw for a bolster, a wisp of straw on
both sides of him, and a wisp above him. He was so
buried in straw that he had barely room to breathe.

He had scarcely slept, when two persons came in, and
sat on the straw right on the top of him. Uncom-
fortable as he was, he dared not complain or open his
mouth, but with a scissors he had in his pocket he cut off
a small piece of the coat of the man that was sitting near
his head, which was going into his mouth and eyes, and
he put the piece he had cut off into his waistcoat-pocket.
The man and woman, for such they happened to be, now
began courting at the hardest. At last the woman said,
" What a pity that old and nasty bodach (carl) wasn't
dead. If you would place the razor on his neck, I would
send it through his throat myself."

This was what happened. When Donald came out of
the barn in the morning, the poor pedlar was in the hands
of the officers of the law. He was handcuffed, and was
being taken away to Aberdeen on the charge of having
murdered the farmer. In the morning the farmer was
found dead with his throat cut.

Donald followed them to Aberdeen ; the pedlar was
taken before the Lords ; he was condemned, and the judge
put on the black cap to pronounce the sentence of death.
At this moment Donald gets up in court, and says : " My
Lord, if you please, can a man that has not been summoned
to court as a witness speak ?"

The Baker of Beastly. 189

" What have you to sa}' ?" asked his Lordship.
Donald then related the circumstances of the barn, and
requested that the young widow's sweetheart be brought
into court in the clothes he wore on the night of the
murder, and that he (Donald) could give proof that the
young man was guilty and the pedlar innocent.

The young man was taken into court, and when he was
placed at the bar, Donald asked if there was a tailor in the
court-house.

" Yes," says a man, rising opposite him.
" Try," says Donald to the tailor, " if there is a piece cut
off from the skirt of his coat."
" Yes," says the tailor.

Thereupon Donald produced from his waistcoat-pocket
the piece he had cut off from the man's coat, and giving it
to the tailor, asked him if it suited the piece wanting in
the coat.

" Yes," says the tailor ; " it is the very piece that was cut
off from the skirt of the coat."

Donald then related the circumstances of the case a
second time. The man and woman were both executed
in Aberdeen for this murder, and the pedlar was free.

Donald now set out for Nairn to visit his wife, but, before
leaving the town, he bought a pistol, powder, and shot.
" Who knows," says he, " what may happen to me before I
reach my journey's end ?"

At last the good man arrived at Nairn at night, but well
did he find out the house of his loving wife. He opened
the door, and upon going in, he at once knew his wife's
voice as she and another man were quarrelling. He
charged his pistol to shoot the man ; but here he remem-
bered his third advice the baker gave him : " Think thrice
before you lift your hand to strike any man."

When the man stopped quarrelling, the woman began
and said : " You young rascal, I have only yourself, and
little pleasure have I ever got from you or your father
before you. He left me the night we were married, and it

I go The Baker of Beauty.

IS not known whether he is dead or alive ; but he left you
behind him to be a burden on me."

When Donald heard this, he was thankful he did not
shoot his son ; so he marched in where the pair were, took
the loaves of white bread off his back, and broke them on
his wife's knee. Out of the first loaf tumbled the wages
of the first seven years ; out of the second, the wages of
the second seven years, and out of the third the wages of
the third seven years. Afterwards they lived together
as happy as people could wish for.

Notes.

I have met with several popular European forms of this
story, which is assuredly of Eastern extraction, and has,
I daresay, been orally current in Gaelic " time out of
mind". The Gaelic story could not have been taken from
No. 103 of Swan's translation of the Anglo-Latin version
of the Gesta Romanorum — which, b}- the \\'ay, does not
occur in the old English translations of the Gesta edited
by Sir F. Madden for the Roxburgh Club, and one edited
by Mr. Herrtage for the Early English Text Society
— since the incidents of the murder and the loaves are
not found in the monkish tale, while they are at least in
one European popular version besides the above.

There is a story in the Turkish collection called Quirq
Vazir Tarikhi (History of the Forty Vazirs), which in the
opening bears some resemblance to the Gaelic tale. It is
the Lady's eighteenth recital in my learned friend Mr. E.
J. W. Gibb's complete English translation of that story-
book, and relates how a young cobbler sees a darivesh pass
by his stall one day, wearing " shocking bad" shoes. He
gives the devotee food and repairs his shoes, and then tell-
ing him that he is about to travel, requests the good man's
counsel in return for his little services. The darivesh skives

The Baker of Beatily. 1 9 1

him these three bits of advice: (i) "Set not out on a
journey till thou have found a good fellow-traveller ; for the
Apostle of God [i.e., Mahommed] has said, ' The com-
panion, then the road.' (2) Light not in a waterless
place. (3) Enter great cities when the sun is rising."

After a time the cobbler finds some suitable travelling
companions, and they set out. One day, in the afternoon,
they approach Aleppo, and the cobbler, remembering the
third advice of the darivesh, refuses to accompany them into
the city, but his companions go on, leaving him to shift for
himself without the walls. The rest of the story is
analogous to the tale of " Ghanim", the slave of love, in the
Arabian Nights, and both have probably been derived
from a tale in an old version of the story-book, entitled
Kissa-i Chehdr Darivesh (Story of the Four Dervishes),
written by Amir Khusrau, who died A.D. 1324, a Hindustani
version of which, entitled Bagh 0 BaJidr (Garden and
Spring), was made early in the present century.

It is very evident that the Turkish tale is a compound of
a story of three maxims, and the Persian story from which
the Arabian tale of "Ghanim" was also adapted ; and that the
first part is imperfect, since we do not find that the hero
profited by the first and second maxims of the darivesh,
while in observing the third his life was not in danger.
Moreover, we are not told that the hero's companions had
•cause to regret entering the city. I conclude, therefore,
that the Turkish compiler had a confused recollection of
the story of the " Three Maxims", and prefixed as much of it
as he knew to what is elsewhere a distinct story of a youth,
outside a city after dark, discovering two men enter a ceme-
tery carrying a great box between them ; his resuscitating an
inanimate lady they had there buried ; his concealing her,
and so on. I had almost omitted to mention that this tale
forms one (or part of one) of the Persian tales of the
" Thousand and One Days" {Hazdr u Yek Ru.z\ said to
have been compiled by a darivesh called Mukhlis of
Ispahan, a work which was partly done into French early

192 The Bake}' of Beauly.

in the last century, under the title of Les milk et un jours :
Conies Pcrsans, by Petis de la Croix.

To return to the Gesta version of the Gaelic story of
"The Baker of Beauly", No. 103 of Swan's translations.
Here a king buys of a merchant three maxims for a
thousand florins: (i) "Whatever you do, do wisely and
think of the consequences. (2) Never leave a highway
for a by-way. (3) Do not be a guest in a house where
the husband is old and the wife is young." By observing
the first bit of advice the king saves his royal throat from
being slit by a barber, who has been hired to do so by the
prime minister. By observing the second and the third he
also saves his life.

In my Popular Tales and Fictions, vol. ii, p. 317 fif., I have
adduced an earlier monkish version of the incident of the
royal barber, as well as Arabian and Turkish variants, and
a Kashmiri analogue, finally tracing it to an old Buddhist
collection, and on p. 491 giving a version from Ceylon.
Swan, in the notes to his rendering of the Gesta, cites from
Petis de la Croix, Contes Turcs (a fourth of the Turkish
" Forty Vazirs" done into French) the Ottoman version,
where, however, the king gets but one maxim for his
money : " Consider well before you do any deed" ; and I
have no doubt that originally the story came to Europe in
a form similar to that of the Gesta version, but with the
incident relating to \hQ. first maxim as the last.

For a full discussion of this story cycle, see MHusine, iii, 473-513;
iv, 166 (the latter reference reproducing M. Rene Basset's elaborate
variant list, Contes Berberes, pp. 226-28).

W. A. Clouston.

DIVINATION AMONG THE MALAGASY,

TOGETHER WITH

NATIVE IDEAS AS TO FATE AND DESTINY.

FOR more than two centuries past it has been well
known to those Europeans who have resided for any
length of time in Madagascar, that a somewhat elaborate
system of divination, called Sikidy or Sikily, is practised
by almost all the various tribes inhabiting the island.
A good deal of information as to the modus operandi of
this divination was given by Flacourt, the French governor
of Fort Dauphin, in his fine work upon Madagascar pub-
lished in 1 66 1. And in later histories, such as that of
Ellis in 1838, other particulars are given, as well as dia-
grams of the methods by which the diviners " worked the
oracle". But within the last five or six years the subject
has been investigated in a most complete manner by
a learned Norwegian missionary, the Rev. Lars Dahle, and
he has given the results of his inquiries in three articles
contributed to successive numbers of a magazine which
I have edited, in whole or in part, for several years past,
the Aiitananarivo Annual. I propose, therefore, to give in
this paper a summary of the information Mr, Dahle has
obtained, omitting many of the minuter points of philo-
logy, which would hardly prove interesting or serviceable
in a paper like the present, Mr. Dahle has brought to his
researches what no previous writer on the subject pos-
sessed, viz., a very accurate knowledge of Arabic, as well
as of the Semitic languages generally, and hence he has
thrown a flood of light upon what had previously been
hopelessly obscure. I can therefore lay claim to no original
research at all in the particulars I have to lay before you ;
VOL. HI. O

194 Divination among the Malagasy.

all I can do is to condense from a much fuller account
by this eminent scholar, and to give the most interesting
facts and results he has obtained in a briefer form and for
a wider circle of readers ; and I shall not hesitate to
quote very freely from Mr. Dahle's articles.

One word more of introduction. The ancient religious
system, or rather the religious beliefs and practices, of the
Malagasy, had little to do with what we commonly under-
stand by " idolatry". There was, primarily, a somewhat
pure and lofty theism ; then a development of ancestor-
worship, especially of the ancestors of the chiefs ; later on,
a fetishism, or trust in charms — personal, family, and tribal,
becoming in very recent times a kind of national idolatry,
but without anything like temple or priestly caste, onl)--
the priesthood of the father, the chief, and then the sove-
reign ; and there was also a firm trust in various ordeals
for the detection of concealed crimes. But along with all
of these, and in many respects much more widely spread
and more influential than any of them, was the belief of the
Malagasy in Vintana, fate or destiny, and in the sikidy, or
practice of divination. The sikidy was, as Mr. Dahle's
chief Malagasy informant — " professor extraordinarius", he
calls him — said, " the Bible of our ancestors", and was
regarded as a divinely-given means of obtaining help and
guidance in all the events and circumstances of everyday
life.

Mr. Dahle, in his introductory paragraph to the first
paper, thus humorously describes the native beliefs in the
efficacy of divination : " If you want to look into the
future, to detect secret enemies or dangers, to find out
what is to be your lot of good or evil, the sikidy is the
means of doing it. And the best of it is, that it does not,
like the Fates or Farces of old, mercilessly leave you to
your destiny, but kindly undertakes to avert the dreaded
evils. If you are sick, the vipisikidy or diviner does not at all
— like many of our modern doctors — treat you ' tenta-
tively', which really means leaving you and nature to

Diviiiatnn among the Malagasy. 195

settle the matter between yourselves as best you can ;
neither are they shallow-minded enough to treat the case
merely 'symptomatically'. As diligent men, they set to
work immediately, and, as truly scientific doctors, the}'-
first try to find out the cause of the evil, and then the
means of removing it. And if they can give you no other
benefit in a desperate case, they will at least cheer up
your spirits with a good assurance, generally terminating
in a very emphatic phrase, to the effect that ' if you die,
you shall be buried on the top of their head'. And even
if your spirit has actually left you, they do not give you
up in despair, as I shall have occasion to point out subse-
quently.

" I am, however, reluctantly forced to admit that I am
not able entirely to exculpate my friends from the accusa-
tion that there is a slight tinge of medical heresy about
them, inasmuch as their whole system oi faditra {i.e., ex-
piatory offerings ox piaculd) seems to rest upon the homoeo-
pathic principle, Siniilia siniilibus curantur ; for \h& faditra
(i.e., the thing the diviner ordered to be thrown away to
prevent or avert an evil) was generally something that
in name, shape, or number, etc., was similar to the evil
in question. For example, if the sikldy brought out maty
roa (' two deaths'), two locusts should be killed and thrown
away, to prevent the death of two men ; if it brought out
niardry (' sick'), a piece of the tree called hdco inardry
('sick-tree') should be made difdditrd'; and so on.

"The people had a remarkable trust in their diviners
and their art ; this appears even in the names by which
they called them. In Imerina and Betsileo (the two most
important central provinces of the island), it was quite
common to style them simply Ny nidsina ('The sacred
ones'), a term which, however, did not so much imply
sanctity as strength and superhuman power. In the out-
lying provinces — especially in the south and west — they
are generally called ambidsa or ombidsy, as they were also
called among the Antanosy at Fort Dauphin as early as

196 Divination among the Malagasy.

the time of Flacourt, and this term is the Arabic anbia^
' prophet'.

" The word sikidy (probably from the Arabic sichr,
' charm, incantation') has been generally translated ' divina-
tion', but it has a somewhat wider sense, as it includes
both the investigation of what is secret, and the art of
finding out the remedy for it, if it proves to be of such
a nature that a remedy is required ; but the second depends
on the first. There are three kinds of sikidy which are
employed almost exclusively in finding out what is secret :
while the other kinds have more to do with remedying the
evils. The first class, however, forms the sikidy par ex-
cellence, manipulated according to a rather intricate sys-
tem ; the second class depends upon it, and seems to be
of a somewhat more arbitrary character."

Before proceeding further, a word or two must be said
as to the Malagasy notions of vlntana or fate, as the
practice of the sikidy largely depends on these beliefs.
The word vlntana Mr. Dahle believes to be an obsolete
collateral form of the Malagasy word khitana, " a star"
(Malayan bintang), and, in its restricted meaning, denotes
the destiny of a man as depending on the times as declared
by the stars at the time of birth, and also the fitness (or
the reverse) of certain times for certain actions {eg., for
a burial). The first of these was the vhitana proper ; the
second was more accurately styled San-andro (literally,
" the hours of the day", from the Arabic sda, " hour", but
also used in a wider sense of " any moment". As might be
inferred from its name (if the above explanation of it be
correct), the vhitana in its turn rests upon astrology. The
different days of the month, and the months throughout
the year, are each supposed to be connected with different
constellations. In previous articles in the Antananarivo
Annual Mr. Dahle had shown that the native names of the
months are all Arabic in origin, and are not, as might have
been supposed, the Arabic names for the months, but the
names of the twelve Signs of the Zodiac ; while the names

Divination among the Malagasy. 197

for the separate days of the months are the twenty-eight
" Moon-stations" on which the Malagasy (originally Arabic)
chronology and astrology depends. In the san-andro an
important part is played by the " Seven Planets" of the
ancients, that is, including the sun and moon, but excluding
the earth and of course also the more distant planets,
which were then not known at all. The astrologers had,
however, a good deal to do outside the domain of astrology
and fate, for they had not only to find out and, if necessary,
counteract the influences of nature, but also those of bad
spirits and bad men, as well as of the evil eye.

Mr. Dahle divides his treatise into seven sections, a divi-
sion which I shall follow in this paper, but condensing his
information in many places.

I. — The Awakening of the Sn<:iDY. The sikldy^ was
generally manipulated with beans or certain seeds, especially
those of the faiio tree, a species of acacia.^ When the
inpisikidy had placed a heap of these seeds or beans
before him and was about to begin, he inaugurated his
proceedings with a solemn invocation, calling upon God
to awaken nature and men, that these might awaken the
sikldy to tell the truth. The following is the formula
used : —

" Awake, O God, to awaken the sun ! Awake, O sun,
to awaken the cock ! Awake, O cock, to awaken mankind !
Awake, O mankind, to awaken the sikidy — not to tell lies,
not to deceive, not to play tricks, not to talk nonsense, not
to agree to anything indiscriminately ; but to search into
the secret, to look into what is byond the hills and on the
other side of the forest, to see what no human eye can see.

" Wake up, for thou art from the long-haired Silamo
(Moslem Arabs), from the high mountains, from Raborobo-
aka and others" (here follow nine long names). " Awake !
for we have not got thee for nothing, thou ait dear and
expensive. We have hired thee in exchange for a fat
cow with a large hump, and for money on which there was

^ Piptadenia chrysostachys.

198 Divination among the Malagasy.

no dust. Awake ! for thou art the trust of the sovereign
and the judgment of the people. If thou art a sikidy that
can tell, that can see, and does not only speak of the noise
of the people, the hen killed by its owner, the cattle
slaughtered in the market, the dust clinging to the feet
{i.e., self-evident things), awake here on the mat !

" But if thou art a sikidy that does not see, a sikidy that
agrees to everything indiscriminately, and makes the dead
living and the living dead, then do not arise here on the
mat.^'

It is evident that the sikidy was looked upon as the
special means used by God for making known His will to
men ; and it is at the same time characteristic enough that
it was thought necessary to " awaken" God (cf i Kings
xviii, 27). In the long list of peisons through whom the
people are said to have got the sikidy are the Silamo
(from " Islam"), chiefly Arabs, who are also called Karanyy
" readers", i.e., those who read the Koran. Several other
Arabic words occur in this invocation, as well as in the
whole terminology connected with the sikidy, as will be
noticed further on. Most of the names given above, in the
list of " authorities" from whom the Malagasy are said to
have received the practice of divination, are rather obscure.
Among them is that of the " Vazlmba", who are supposed
to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the island before the
arrival of its present Malayo-Polynesian and Melanesian
colonists. They may be mentioned either because the
diviners were anxious to have the sikidy connected with
everything that was mysterious and pointed back to the
mythical days of old ; or, possibly, because the Vazimba
were really the people who first received the sikidy from
the Arabs, and that the other tribes in their turn got it
from the Vazimba.

It may be added that individual vipisikidy of any repute
seem each to have had their own form of invocation, or
at least made considerable variations in the wording of
it, although its general bearing seems to have been very
much the same.

Divination among the Malagasy. 199

II. — The Sixteen Figures of the Sikidy. Having-
finished his invocation, the diviner began to work the
sikidy (Ht. " to raise it up"), taking beans or fano seeds,
and arranging them on a mat on the floor according to
rules to be presently explained. These beans or seeds
must be represented by dots. They were as follows : —

Hova Names.

Sixkalava.

Arabs of E. Africa.

I.

W Jamk (or Zomk)

... Asombola

Asombola

2.

:': Alkhizkny

.. Alizkha

Alahoty

3-

•': Asoralkhy

... Asoralahy

Alasady

4-

.:. Votsira ( = Vontsira)

. . Karija

Tabkta horojy

5-

: Taraiky

... Taraiky

Askratkny

6.

:'• Saka

.. Alakaosy

T^badahila

7-

V Asoravkvy

.. Adabkra

Afaoro

8.

) Alikisy

.. Alikisy

Alijady

9-

••'. Aditsimk (Aditsimay)

.. Alatsimay

Alizaoza

10.

V Kizo

.. Alakarkbo

Alakaribo

II.

•> Adikasajy

Betsivongo

Adizony

12.

.'■. Vknda mitskngana

(= Mikarija) .

.. AdMo

Alkhamkly

13-

•• Vknda miondrika

(= Molah

dy)

.. Alahotsy

Alakaosy

14.

■.: Alokola

.. Alikola

Adalo (?)

15-

■\ Alaimora

.. Alihimora

Alihimora

16.

■: Adibijkdy

.. Alabikvo

Bihikva

The names in the first row are those in use in the
interior ; the order seems immaterial, but that here fol-
lowed seems most systematic, commencing with the fullest
form (ii), and taking away one bean (or dot) for each
figure until only four ( : ) are left, and then adding one
again to each, by which proceeding we get the first eight
figures. The next eight are formed by placing twos and
ones in various combinations. The theory of the whole is
evidently that not more than eight beans can be used in
any figure, and that all of the figures must contain four in
length (or height), while there may be two or one in
breadth. The names in the second and third columns
were obtained from an Arab trader, and are, several of

200 Divination among the Malagasy.

them at least, easily recognisable as the Arabic names for
several of the months, but for many centuries naturalised
among the Malagasy ; and these, as already mentioned, are
the Arabic names for the Signs of the Zodiac, while others
seem to be those of the Moon-stations, Mr. Dahle has
minutely examined the list of Hova names, some of which
are Malagasy, but obscure in meaning, while most of them
appear to be of Arabic origin, and several are also evi-
dently derived from astrology ; among others, the con-
stellations Virgo, Aries, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Pisces, and
Capricornus seem to be denoted.

III. — The Sixteen Columns of the Sikidy (literally,
" The Sixteen Mothers of Sikidy"). To the sixteen figures,
or various combinations of the beans or seeds by ones and
twos in the sikidy, correspond the sixteen columns (called
by Mr. Dahle "rubrics"), places, or rows, in which they are
arranged in working the oracle ; one figure being placed
in each column, not, however, that all the figures must
necessarily occur. The same figure may occur more than
once, and some of the sixteen figures may not occur at
all in the sixteen columns, as that is purely a matter of
chance. If the columns are arranged in the manner usual
in the practice of sikidy, we get the combination of squares
given on the next page.

It will be seen at a glance, however, that we have
got more than sixteen names here, although the rows or
columns are really not more than twelve, corresponding
probably to the twelve Signs of the Zodiac. If a skilful
diviner is asked for Ny sikidy i6 reny, he will only enume-
rate the names given in the first (top) row {Tali — Vbhitrd),
the four to the right of it {Zatbvo — Fdhavdld),d.nd the eight
below {Tt'dno — Fdhasizy), giving us the sixteen complete.
The others seem to be considered as accessory and of
secondary importance. Some of them are simply repeti-
tions, with this difference, that they refer to things in
another person's house, not in that of the inquirer for
whom the sikidy operation in question is undertaken

Divination among the Malagasy. 201

Others are placed to the left side of the lower square, and
others at the six corners.

Mr. Dahle proceeds to investigate each of the thirty-four
words shown in the diagram ; and points out that while
the majority of them are Malagasy, about four or five are
evidently Arabic. The Malagasy words are those in
ordinary everyday use, as those for wealth, relations,
village, youth, woman, enemy, house, road, inquirer, God,

<p 11-

%

Tsinin ny
vilona

AlJka

Olgn.
drdtsy

Mororozy

Zatovo

Manna
Vihivdvy

Fdha- .6/'

^O

Zatovo antrdno
hafa

Manna, do.

Vehivdvy, do

Finariavana
do.

%

1013 S C

Arrangement of Columns in the Sik'niy Divination.

diviner, wild-cat, dog, sheep, goat, fowl, much bloodshed,
etc. Of the four or five derived from the Arabic, the first
word. Tale, apparentl}' meaning "investigator" or "explorer",
always represents in the sikidy the person or thing con-
cerning whom (or which) the inquiry is made.

In reading or examining the columns, the first four
{Tale — Vbhiira) and the eight below {Trdno — FaJuisivy)
are read from above downwards. The eight to the right

202 Divination among the Malagasy.

{Zatbvo — Firlariavajia) are read from right to left. The
four to the left (^Kororbsy — Tsiniti ny velona) are read from
left to right, while the names at the corners are read
diagonally.

IV. — The Erecting of the Sikidy {i.e., the placing^
of the figures in the columns). So far, we have only seen
the machinery, so to speak, with which the divination is
worked ; now let us try to understand how the diviner pro-
ceeded in order to gain the information desired in the great
variety of inquiries made of him. In the diagram here
given, all the columns are filled with figures, just as a veri-
table mpisikidy would do, except that dots are used instead
of beans or seeds. The rules for " erecting the sikidy" will
now be given.

1. The first four columns {Tale — Vbhztra) are filled with
figures in the following manner. From the heap of beans
before him the mpisikidy takes a handful at random, and
from this handful he takes out two and two until he has
either two or one left. If two are left, he puts two beans^
if one, one bean, into the first or upper square of Tale'. In
the same manner he fills the remaining three, Harena^
Fdhatelo, and Vbhitra, square by square, from above down-
wards.

2. When these four columns — one of which represents
the person or thing regarding whom or which the sikidy is
made — are filled in the manner described, the remaining
eight are filled by a combination of these first four, or of
others that have already been filled by a combination of
these. This is done in such a manner that two figures are
chosen and compared square by square from above down-
wards. If this combination gives an odd number {i.e., if
one of the two combined squares has one bean, and the
other two), only one bean is put in the corresponding
square of the new figure to be formed ; but if it gives an
even number {i.e., if the two combined squares both contain
one bean, or both two beans), two beans are put into the
new figure.

Divination among the Malagasy. 203

3. These combinations are subjected to the following
rules :

(rt) Tale 2x^6. Harena {i.e., a combination of the two in

the manner described) form Lalana.
{b) Fahatelo and Vbhitra form Asorotany.
{c) Lalana and Asorotany form Mpdnontdny.
id) Zatbvo and Marina form Nla.
(e) Vehivdvy and Fdhavdlo form Fdhasivy.
(/) Nla and Fdhasivy form Mdsina.
(g) Mdsina and Mpdnofitdny form Andrlamdnitra.
(h) Andrlamdnitra and Tale form Trdno.

A glance at the diagram here given will show that all the
eight figures below have actually been formed according to
these rules. If we, for instance, compare Tale ^x\6. Harena,
from which Ldlanu is to be formed, we get dissimilar
numbers all the way, as all the pairs of squares have one
and two, and consequently Ldlana gets only one bean in
all its squares. Exactly the same procedure — mutatis
mutandis — takes place in the filling in of the remaining
seven columns below.

V. — The Working of the Sikidy. — When the sikldy
is "erected" or arranged in the manner just described, the
question arises : What is to be done with it ? How to
work it so as to get an answer to your questions, a medicine
for your sickness, or a charm against the evils of which you
may be apprehensive, etc. ?

Let it be remarked at the outset, that the sikldy pro-
perly deals with questions put to it. To answer these is its
proper function. But if you ask what is the root of an evil,
or the means of removing or averting it, etc., the answer
will of course point out to you the cure of your evils, as
well, and so far, appear as ars medica. There are, however,
kinds of sikldy in which no question is put, but the remedy
for the evil is prescribed at once. But as these are rather
different from the ordinary sikldy -t^xozq-ss, they will be
noticed in a separate section. What concerns us now is,

204 Divination among the Malagasy.

the ordinary stkldy, the business of which is to give answers
to our questions.

The first thing to be done, after having " erected the
sikidy\ is to see what figure we have got in the column
named Aridriamajiitra (God); for, out of the sixteen figures,
only half of them (Nos. i, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14) are con-
sidered to "agree" with Andriammiitra. These are called
the " Nobles" or " Kings" of the sikidy, whereas the re-
maining eight are called its " Slaves". If any of these
latter figures happen to get into the said column, the sikidy
becomes invalid, and the whole has to be broken up and
commenced anew ; for the sikidy has not done proper
honour to God in putting a slave in His column, and can-
not be expected to tell the truth in His name.

This point, however, being successfully arranged, the
next business is to choose one of the four first columns
{Tale — Vbhitra) to represent the question, or, rather, the
person or thing it refers to. As Tale is to represent
everything that cannot be put under the headings " pro-
perty", " relations", or " village", the choice cannot be very
puzzling ; but this being settled, the proceedings branch out
into the following parts, which Mr. Dahle terms : (a) The
Sikidy of Identical Figures ; (b) The Sikidy of Different
Figures ; and (c) The Sikidy of Combined Figures.

A. — The Sikidy of Identical Figures. — Having settled
which of the four first columns is to represent the question,
the next thing is to examine which of the sixteen figures
happens to be in the column representing it. This being
found, we go on examining all the other figures except the
others of the first four (for these have nothing to do with
the answer), that is to say, those on the right side, those on
the left, and those on the two corners to the left.

If we, thus examining them, find that any of them is like
the one representing the inquiry, this may or may not
settle the question, or, in other words, give us the answer.
This depends on the nature (name) of the column in which
it is found. This Mr. Dahle illustrates thus : " If I expect

Divination among the Malagasy. 205

a ship, and am going to inquire about its coming by means
of the sikidy, the column Harena (or property) will of course
represent it. If in this column I find, for instance, the
figure /«;;/« ( jj ), and on further examination find the same
figure in the column Trdno (house), this gives me no
answer, as there is no natural connection between the two
conceptions. If, on the contrary, I find the same figure
in the column called Ldlana (road), then of course I know
that the ship is at any rate on the ivay. I have then got
an answer to the chief question ; but there may still be
good reasons for a sharp look-out, for there may be diffi-
culties in its way. Suppose that I also find the same
figure in the column named Fdhavdlo (enemy), my mind
will immediately be filled with gloomy apprehensions of
pirates! Not a bit more cheerful will be my prospects if I
find the same figure under Ra be mandriaka (much blood-
shed). But what a consolation, on the other hand, if the
same figure reappears in the column Nla (food) ; for then
I must certainly be a blockhead if I do not understand
that, although the ship may have a long voyage, there is
no scarcity of food on board ; and so on. It is easy
enough to see that a man with much practice and a
good deal of imagination could produce much ' informa-
tion' in this manner ; and I suppose that in a good many
cases the mpisikidy were able to find an answer already
in this first act of their proceedings, even if the means
of finding it might seem scanty enough to ordinary
mortals,"

But there is much more still that may be done ; for, be-
sides the answers available from the fact of the identity of
the figure representing the question with one or more of
those in the other columns, it is of great importance to find
out whether any two or more of the other figures are alike,
and in how many columns the same figure occurs in a
sikidy. The detailed particulars given by Mr. Dahle on
this point may be put for the sake of brevity into a tabular
form :

2o6 Divination among the Malagasy.

Columns with same Figures. ^f^'\ }^ord for
^ Lombination.

1. FahasivyAx\A Mdsina

2. ,, ,, Nia

= Tsi-rbngatra
= Mdti-rda

3. FdhatHo ,, Hartna = Vahbaka

4. Trdno ,, Mpdnontdny =. Tsindrildsy
5- I. .> Ldla7ta = Sdmpona

6. Andro ,, Asdrotdny = Ldhi-dntitra :

7. Fdkasivy ,, Asdrotdny = Ravbakbny ■■

8. Vbhitra ,, Fdhatilo = Fotdan-tsi-mihdtra ■■

9. Ldlana ,, A^'ia

=^ Fihi-tsi-rdso

Cleaning.

does not move or agitate,
two deaths ; that is, two

will die, but two locusts

may be thrown away as

a fdditra or piaculum.
a crowd of people,
enemy approaching,
hindrances expected,
old man ; that is, the sick

will recover, and reach

old age.
a mouthful thrown out (?).
the fixed time will not be

kept.
: the troops will not

advance.

The following five possibilities refer to somewhat dif-
ferent cases, thus :

10. If the figure Alokbla ( •';. ) occurs three times in different
columns, three stones are to be thrown away as a faditra to avert
evil.

11. If Vanda initsangana ( :■': ) occurs three times, the feathers of a
white hen are to be a. fdditra.

12. If Alaiinbra ( X ) occurs twice, it means that the son of a
mighty man is likely to be a mighty man too.

13. If Sdka ( V ) occurs in Trdno., and Vo>7/s)ra ( :■. ) in Tale, or
Alaiinbra ( ."•.' ) in Trdno, and Adibijddy ( v ) in Tale, the case will
follow the analogy of the one preceding it ; e.g., if my child, who was
formerly ill, was cured, this one will be cured ; if it died, this one will
die too.

14. If a sikuiy happens to contain eight Von/slra ( j. ) they are
called "the eight healthy men", and are considered an excellent
remedy against disease, as will be shown later on.

It is evident that many of these " meanings" can be con-
strued into answers to questions, although the general
tendency of many of them seems to be rather to point out
the fdditra to be used against the evil. But it might
happen that the figures were all unlike one another, at any
rate that those which were like the one in the column re-
presenting the question were so incongruous with it that
even the most inventive imagination and the greatest
acuteness, sharpened by long practice, would prove unequal

Divination a7nong the Malagasy. 207

to the task of construing it into a reasonable answer to the
question. In such cases the mpisikidy was obliged to have
recourse to other operations, viz., the Sik]dy tokana and
the Lbfin-tsikidy , of which the first one is comparatively-
simple, while the latter one was very complicated. Each
of these will now be briefly explained.

B. — The Sikidy of Unique Figures. — If it happens that
any of the twelve principal columns {Tale — Vbhitra and
Trdno — Fahashy) gets a figure which does not occur in
any of the other columns, this is called Sikidy tokana, " a
sikidy that stands alone"; and consequently there are
twelve possible kinds of this species of sikidy. Often many
of the columns may happen to have unique figures ; in
the diagram, for instance, Mdsina, Asbrotdny, Trdno, and
Tale have each one occurring in no other column. But it
would be remarkable (although it is possible) if all the
twelve columns got different figures, so that all the rules
for sikidy tokana became applicable in the same sikidy.

The twelve columns are enumerated in a certain order
by the diviners. First com.QS A ndrlamdnitra {God), Xhen
the four at the top of the diagram, and finally the seven
remaining ones below. In all the twelve classes of sikidy
tokana the meaning depends on which of the sixteen figures
it is that occurs as unique in the column in question. In
many cases only a few of them have any special meaning
attached to them, as will appear from the following rules
regarding each class :

I. Unique Figures in the Column Andrlamdnitra. — As
only eight of the figures can be placed in this column
without making the whole sikidy invalid, as previously
mentioned, we only get eight varieties : —

(a) If figure 9 occurs, it denotes that a thing can be
done seven times without any hindrance.

{}j) If figure 7, you must throw away a cooking-pot
full of rice, and you arc likely to get rich.

{c) If figure 3, which is here called Mdhatsdngafia, is

2o8 Divination among the Malagasy.

taken {i.e., the beans composing it) and applied
to a reed {vbloisdngana) of the same length
as the man for whom the sikidy is worked, and
this is thrown away, it will bring good luck.

{d) If figure 14, it is an excellent charm against gun-
shot {hdi-bdsy).

(e) If figure 13, the beans composing it are taken
and mixed with a herb called tdmbinbana ; the
sick person licks this six times, and it is then
put on the top of his head.

(/) If figure 12 (here called Heloka, guilt), the six
beans of the figure are placed on as many rice-
husks, which are then thrown away as ?ifdditra.

(^) If figure I, a tree called dndrarezina (a species
of Trevid) is to be the fdditra.

{h) If figure 5, a white hen and a tree called
fbtsinanaJidry (" white one of the Creator") are
to be ihe fdditra.

2. Unique Figures in Tale. — This is the only column in
which all the figures have a special meaning ; but as they
are much in the same style as those already given under
Andriamdnitra, it would be tedious to give them in detail.
Mr. Dahle observes here : " I do not intend the reader to
practise the sikidy (this secret I shall of course keep for
my own use !), but only wish to give him an idea as to what
it is."

3. Unique Figures in the other Columns. — In the other
fourteen columns the number of figures having special
meanings varies from one to fourteen out of the sixteen
possibilities ; but space and time do not allow any further
details, especially as their general character is shown by
the examples given under Andrlamdnitra. Most of them
simply suggest an answer to a question, frequently also
giving a remedy against the evil intimated by the answer.
As a specimen, however, it may be mentioned that when
the figure Sdka occurs singly in the column Trdno, it is

Divination amonf^ the Malagasy. 209

considered as an excellent remedy for sterility if the five
beans of the figure are mixed with milk, which is then to
be put into fourteen fragments of pumpkin shell, and
given to fourteen children, who are then to put some
rice into a pot, from which the sterile woman eats it.
Many of the rules in this kind of sikidy refer to sterility,
sickness, or death.

Under this section of Unique Figures, Mr. Dahle describes
two other kinds of sikidy which are closely connected with
the preceding ones, and called respectively ( i ) " Sikidy
mutually corresponding', and (2) ^'■Sikidy providing a sub-
stitutory sacrifice'.

1. In the first of these, when certain figures occur in
certain columns, clods of earth squeezed out from under the
feet must be thrown away as ^.faditra to prevent one's self
being crushed ; while in other contingencies two hens are
to be beaten against the ground to prevent evil.

2. The second kind of sikidy just named is a more
important operation, and seems chiefly to have had the
office of intimating that some young man was in danger of
dying ; and the rules accompanying it point out the means
of averting the evil. If Alainibra is the unique figure in a
sikidy, and happens to occur in the column FaJiavalo, this
is cdXv^di Masoa7idro mandaloi^^ "OciQ^ passing sun"), intimating
the danger of some man dying ; and the following is the
procedure resorted to so as to avert the evil : A red cock
is fetched and adorned with crocodiles' teeth and a piece of
bark of the nato tree, which has been soaked in boiling
water for a night. This cock is brought to a place to the
east of the house a little before sunrise, and is put on a new
mat on which no one has yet slept. The diviner who is to
perform the act must wear a red Idmba (a garment very
much like the Greek cpiblevia or himation and the Roman
aviictus), and a piece of black cloth on the back, both new,
and at any rate not sewn or mended. The man for whom
the sikidy is worked must place himself on a similar mat
in the house and wear a similar dress. As soon as the sun

VOL. III. p

2 1 o Divination among the Malagasy.

rises the diviner cuts off the head of the cock, enters the
house with the bloody knife in his hand, and touches with
this the person for whom the sikidy is made.

If Alaimbra comes into Tale and Adibijddy into Fdha-
.swjy, or Adibijddy into Fdhasivy and Alaimbra into Tale,
:it is called Lehi-henjana (" the strong one"), and the
imeaning is that a son of young parents is likely to die
\young, if some effective remedy is not resorted to. And
ithis is the remedy : Two young bullocks' horns (one from
•:the right and one from the left side of the head) are taken
;and placed on the top of a piece of a tree called hdzo-bbka
'{i.e., " the leprosy-tree"), which is then erected close to a
river, so as to throw its shadow on the water, and a trench
is made from the water up into the land. Then the man
for whom the siktdy is worked enters into this trench, and
through this into the water. Finally, an assistant takes the
■stem of a banana- tree of the same length as the man for
whom the sikidy is worked, puts it into the trench, and
joins the diviner in offering a prayer that the banana-stem
may be accepted as a substitute for the person, and that he
may live long. About sunset the man is sprinkled with
two kinds of consecrated water, and the proceedings are at
an end.

C. — The Sikidy of Combined Figures. — It may happen
that neither of the two classes of divination already
described gives any reasonable answer to the questions,
and then this third kind {Lbji7i -sikidy) is the final resort.
The general rules for this operation are the following : —

1. The figures in any two columns of an ordinary sikidy
(like the one given in the diagram) may be combined in the
very same manner as that by which all the lower columns
were filled from the four upper columns in it.

2. These new figures must of course be like some of the
sixteen figures already enumerated (see table, p. 199) ;
but the columns they occupy get new names, and conse-
quently give material for fresh answers. Their names do
not however, depend on what figures come out, but from

Divination among the Malagasy. 2 1 1

what columns {i.e.^ from what combinations of columns)
they have been derived. For instance, if the figures in
the two columns Fdhasivy and Andrianimiitra in the
diagram are combined square by square, the new figure
would be an Adibijady ( v ), but this new column would
always have the name Lbzabe (" great calamity"). Another
combination would give the name to a new column called
Resy ("conquered") ; and so on.

3. But there are also other possible combinations, viz. : —

{a) A part only of some columns may be combined

with a part of other columns.
{b) One of the columns in the diagram may be

combined with one of the new ones.
(<:) Two of the new columns may be combined with

one another in the same manner.

But these combinations are not done at random ; on the
contrary, they are subjected to strict rules, stating clearly
which two columns can give birth to such and such a new
one. In this manner Mr. Dahle's native helper gets 81 new
columns (besides those in the diagram), subjected to as
many rules, and contributing materials for as many new
answers to questions. To give these in full, with their
various meanings, would occupy a considerable treatise,
and the above may probably be considered intricate enough.
This sikldy, says Mr. Dahle, reminds him of the Danish
proverb, " Deceit is a science, said the Devil, when he gave
lectures at Kiel." A long list of rules (23 in number) is
given by native professors as to the proper means of obtain-
m^ fdditra ox piacula for the different evils to be averted.

VI. — Miscellaneous Sikidy. — In all the varieties of
sikldy hitherto dealt with, the chief object in view has been
to get an answer to questio7is, while it has been only a secon-
dary and subordinate object to find out the 7'emedies against
evils, that is, if the answer informed us that some evil might
b-; apprehended. But now we come to some silddy prac-
tices, the chief object of which was to remedy the evils, or

p 2

212 Divination amon^ the Malagasy.

to procure a pi'opJiylactic against them. In other forms
of this miscellaneous sikidy the object aimed at was to find
times and directions when and where something was to be
found, or was to take place.

A. — Ody busy (charms against guns). — These must be of
comparatively recent origin, as guns have not been known
in Madagascar for more than three centuries, but it is pro-
bable, from certain formulae still made use of, that they
were anciently spear-charms. The following were the rules
for obtaining such charms : —

1. Such a sikidy must invariably be worked on the last
one of the two days of each month which took their names
from the month Addlo, because the object of the charm was
to make the musket ball (or spear) manddlo {i.e., pass by,
without hitting) the person for whom the sikidy was made.
(Here was an instance of a kind of homoeopathic principle,
of which Malagasy folk-lore and plant-lore and charms
present innumerable examples.)

2. The rules for erecting this sikidy were very elaborate,
as the great object was to get one in which the figure Adit-
sima (V) occurred in the column Andrlavidnitra (God),
and in no other column. If this did not happen, the
diviner had to erect the sikidy anew over and over again
until it did occur. And as he must have seven such sikidy,
it must have taken a very long time before the business
was finished, if the arrangement was left to haphazard.
But a good diviner was of course supposed to be inspired,
and then he may have hit upon it at once.

3. The seven beans were put into the object (in many
parts of the island, a piece of bullock's horn) to be used as
a charm, and this was worn on some part of the person,
often bound round the temples. Mr. Dahle believes the
word Aditsirnd to be a corruption of the Arabic al-Jiimd,
"the protected one" ; and so possibly means "protection from
God", reminding him of the Arabic saying : " Nobody is
infallibly protected except God and His prophet" {i.e.,
Mohammed).

Divination among the Malagasy. 213

B. — Odim-barotra (trade-charms). — These were used to
make trade successful. They were effected by erecting a
sikidy in which there occurred eleven Adikasajy ( .;. ). The
beans of these eleven identical figures were then applied to
the things to be used as charms to make trade prosperous.

C. — Odiin-pitla (love-charms). — These were prepared by
erecting a siktdy in which the figure Vontsira ( j, ) occurred
in the column Harena (and nowhere else), and the figure
Kizo ( V ) in the column Nia (and nowhere else). The first
of these was called Mdnty alio (" I am sweet "), and the
second Kely vioinba ny ndhiny (" small, but sticks to what
is intended"). These charms were also used as trade-
charms, as the great object in view in trade also is to make
the customers " love" (that is, like) the things sold.

D. — General charms. — If a sikidy was erected in which the
figure Vdnda mibndrika ( /' ) occurred only in the column
Andrlamdnitra, this was a good general charm for every-
thing.

E. — Fanmdri-lba{c\\dirms against vomiting). — The diviner
arranged his beans so as to make a rough figure of a man.
Then he gathered them together and mixed them with a
decoction of two plants and made the patient drink the
mixture.

F. — Odin' ny blona tbJiina (charms against dislike to food).
— Here is a useful prescription for those whose appetite is
failing. The diviner arranges his beans so as to make four
different figures. These are then mixed with water, which
is drunk by the person in question, and the cure is complete.
At any rate, says Mr. Dahle, the diviner did not, he believes,
mention a single case in which it had failed !

G. — Fangaldn-kco (remedy for diseases caused by eating
food in which there was a niatbatba, the spirit of a dead
man) ; and

H. — Fampodlan' dloka or ambirba (the bringing back a
semi-departed spirit). — Time and space forbid that I should
give in detail the strange mixture of chance and jugglery
by which the diviners professed to be able to effect the

214 Divination among the Malagasy.

operations denoted in the names of these two species of
divination. In the second of them not only were beans
composing various sikidy used, but also a number of other
objects were with them pounded in a mortar by the afflicted
person, while an invocation was addressed to God.

I. — Andron-tany (lit. "days of the land", but in the
sense of the different quarters or directions of the compass,
as expressed by the place in the house assigned to each
day). — What is really meant by this somewhat indefinite
heading is, the art of finding out in what direction you are
to seek for a thing that is lost, stolen, or strayed, etc. And
this is denoted by the sikidy bringing out a certain figure
in a certain column, showing that the thing wanted was to
be looked for in a certain direction. For in the old native
houses, which are always built with the length running
north and south, and the single door and window on the west
side, the names of the twelve months are given to twelve
points of the compass, four at the corners and two on each
side. (See diagram given later on, under San-dndro, p. 222.)
For instance, if the sikidy brought out a figure which
pointed to the south-east, the diviner did not call it so, but
said it pointed to Asorotany, i.e., the constellation Cancer
and also the name of a Malagasy month, which, in the
arrangement just mentioned, has its place assigned to it
at the south-eastern corner of the house.

J. — Andro fotsy (lit. "white days", i.e., the days on
which something expected or sought for was to happen). —
Suppose, says Mr. Dahle, I have lost a slave. It is of the
utmost importance to me to know on what day I shall
find him ; for then I do not trouble myself about searching
for him before the day is come. Consequently I go to the
diviner. He knows that certain combinations in certain
columns denote the different days of the week ; and if,
for instance, these columns prove to be Harhia and
Fdhasivy, then he knovv^s that what he asks about will occur
on Wednesday {Alarobld). And so with the other days of
the week

Divination among the Malagasy. 2 1 5

Mr. Dahle remarks here : " It is easy to see that this was
a very convenient way of saving much time and trouble.
Suppose I expect a friend from Fianarantsoa on Monday,,
but he may have postponed his departure from that place,
or he may have been delayed on the road ; well, I go tO'
the vipisikidy, and he tells me that he will not arrive before
Saturday. Fancy now that I had not been prudent
enough to do so ; what would have been the consequence ?
To say nothing of other inconveniences, my wife would
certainly have kept the dinner ready for him from noon
to night every day from Monday to Saturday ; and if she
had not been an angel — which, of course, she is — she would
certainly have looked very cross when he at last appeared.
What a blessing these mpisikidy must have been, especially
in the good days of old, where there were no doctors and
no telegraphs ! "

It has frequently come before our notice in the pre-
ceding sections, that all depended on what figures were
placed in each column by the erecting of the sikldy. And
as the first four columns were filled in a manner which
seems to have depended entirely on haphazard, and the
filling of the others depended on these four, we should
conclude that nothing so far was arbitrary, and that the
vipisikldy had no control over the form of the sikldy, nor
could he decide beforehand what figures would occur in
each column. " But", says Mr. Dahle, " I understand that
sometimes {e.g., in producing love-charms, trade-charms,,
etc.) he took the liberty of filling the first four columns
with figures which he knew beforehand (from theory and
experience) would, in the further procedure, produce
exactly the figures he wanted, and in the columns he
would want them, for the sikldy in question. How else
could he have got a sikidy in which Adikasajy ( •;• ) occurred
eleven times ? or in which Vontslra ( :_': ) occurred eight
times? or in which Vontslra came into Harcna, and
Kho ( V ) into Nla, and nowhere else ? I believe he
would often have had to erect his sikldy some thousand

2i6 Divination among the Malagasy.

times before that could 'happen', if he did not 'make it
happen' in the manner intimated above. No doubt he
generally began working on the haphazard principle ; but
after having destroyed his sikidy several times and begun
anew — just sufficient to make his spectators understand
that it was a very serious affair — he had resort to artificial
means, and made it succeed. I fancy this was the general
practice in producing the charms described above,"

Mr. Dahle thinks that the practice of sikidy among the
coast tribes is not so fully developed as that in use in the
interior of Madagascar, except, possibly, in the district of
Matitanana (S.E. coast), for here there was an ancient
Arab colony, and a great many Arabic customs have
been retained by the Antaimoro, as well as by the
Antanosy, further south towards Fort Dauphin, where
Flacourt was governor.

The Betsimisaraka have, besides the systematic kind of
sikidy already described {Sikidy aldnana), at least six
other kinds. These are said to be much simpler than the
ordinary kind of divination ; one, for instance, has only
two columns or rows ; another kind, also with two columns,
is worked by using in some cases three beans, as well as
one or two. Other kinds, although styled Sikidy kofafa
or vero, can hardly be properly called sikidy at all. The
procedure is simply the following : You take an indefinite
number of kofafa or vero {kofafa^ a broom made of grass
stalks, vero, a tall grass), and you then take out two and
two until you have only one or two left. But you must
have settled in your own mind at the outset whether
one left shall mean good luck, and two bad luck, or vice
versa. A similar practice is, we know, found among
Europeans also, but only as an amusement.

There is, says Mr. Dahle, another kind of sikidy (if we
like to call it so), which, I have been told, is practised by
an old woman in Antananarivo. Something had been
stolen and nobody knew the thief, but they suspected
he was to be found among the servants. So the old

Divination among the Malagasy. 2 1 7

woman said : " Look here, I will show you who has stolen
it. Let each of you bring me a little piece of wood."
This being done, she cut all the pieces exactly the same
length, gave them back to the people, and said : " After a
little while, you must all bring me your pieces, and you
will see that the one belonging to the thief will have
becom.e a little longer than the rest." But when they
brought their pieces, lo ! one of them had become a little
shorter than the rest ; for the man who was conscious of
being guilty had thought it best to secure himself by
cutting off a little of his piece, which was exactly what
the sly old woman had calculated would take place. So
the thief was found out. This was smartly done, but it
can hardly be a common practice, for, if so, it would
become known, and consequently be useless.^ For ordi-
nary cases of this kind the Ati-pdko, so much in use here,
would work better.

The Att-pdko, here mentioned by Mr. Dahle, is thus
described in the Malagasy-English Dictionary : " A mode
of recovering stolen property without detecting the thief;
all the servants or employees are required to bring some-
thing, as a small bundle of grass, etc., and to put it into a
general heap. This affords an opportunity to the thief of
secretly returning the thing stolen."

VII. — We now come to the last division of our subject,
viz., that of ViNTANA and San-ANDRO, or, as Mr. Dahle
thinks this section might be termed, (i) Zodiacal and
Liinary Vlntana, and (2) Planetary Vhitana.

A. — What, then, is vlntana ? If a man was ill, people
often said, " Perhaps the vlntana of his son is too strong
for him, or he has become subject to some misfortune," so
they said, " Vintany izdny angdhd' (" Perhaps that is his
vlntana'). Or perhaps he was perpetually unsuccessful in
business, and they said, '' Olona rat sy vlntana izchiy' ("That

^ A similar practice is found among Oriental peoples; see an
exactly parallel account to the above in Rev. Dr. Thomson's The
Land and ike Book, 1883 ed., p. 153.

2i8 Divination among the Malagasy.

man must have a bad vlntana'). Even immorality {^.g.y
an unmarried woman becoming pregnant) was excused
by the remark, " Vintany Jiiany angaha izany" (" Perhaps
that is her vlntana''), meaning that there was no help-
ing it.

Now what does this all mean ? Vintana seems like the
fatum of the Greeks and Romans, an invisible power that
made itself felt always and everywhere. The following
views seem to be implied in the Malagasy ideas of it.

1. Earth is not governed by itself, but by heaven. Not
only is the succession of day and night settled by the
most glorious heavenly bodies, the sun and the moon, but
the fitness or unfitness of times and seasons for various
things to be done, as well as the destiny of man himself,
depends upon the heavenly bodies.

2. As far as mankind is concerned, the stars forming
the constellations of the Zodiac are all-important. Their
influence is manifested in two respects : they decide the
destiny of a man, and also the fitness or otherwise of
times and seasons.

3. The destiny of a man (his vintami) depends on what
day he was born (partly also on what time of the day), or,
rather, on what constellation of the Zodiac governed the
day of his birth. It was therefore incumbent upon the
nipanintana (those who dealt with the vintand)^ or the
7;//>rt;2(i/?^r6» (day-makers or declarers), who were also diviners,,
to inquire about the day or time of the day of a child's
birth in order to make out its vintana, i.e., under what
constellation it had been born, and what influence this
would have on its destiny.

4. As the names of the constellations of the Zodiac
also became the names of the months, and of the days
of the month (at least in the interior provinces), it is not
clear what influence was attributed to the moon ; but that
it was not considered to be without some influence appears
from the following facts : — {a) Although the days of the
months had seemingly borrowed their names from the

Divination among the Malagasy. 219

constellations of the Zodiac, they really represented the
28 " Moon-stations" of the Arabs. In Flacourt's time (230
years ago) these were still retained on the south-east coast/
but in the interior of Madagascar they have been super-
seded by a somewhat simplified nomenclature, that is, by
simply calling them first and second, or first, second, and
third (or equivalent names), as the case may be, of each
month, Alahamady, Adaoro, and the rest.^ {b) The
Malagasy year was a lunar one (345 days). And (<:) both
the sun and the moon take their place as governors of the
days of the week.

5. Besides the division of the year into months, the
Malagasy have from time immemorial known a hebdomadal
unit, the week, the days of which have Arabic names.
These days were thought to be under the special influence
of the " Seven Planets" {i.e., what were by the ancients so
called, viz., the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus, and Saturn), as will be noticed presently under San-
andro.

" It is easy to see", says Mr. Dahle, " that the whole life
of a Malagasy would be thought to be under the influence

1 Here, for example, are the three Moon-stations in Alkhamkdy :
(i) As-sharatani, (2) Al-butkina, (3) Az-zurayya, or names of the first
three days in every month.

2 The following are the Malagasy month-names, with their Arabic
derivations and equivalent Zodiac signs : —

Malagasy.

Arabic.

Zodiac Signs.

I.

Alahamady

Al-hamalu

=

Aries.

2.

Adaoro

Atz-tzauru

=

Tanrtts.

3-

Adizaoza

Al-dsehauza'i

11 =

Gemini.

4-

Asorotany

As-saratanu

=

Cancer.

5-

Alihasaty

Al-asadu

=

Leo major.

6.

Asomb61a

As-sunbulu

=

Spica in Virgo, which constellation
it represents here.

7-

Adimiz^na

Al-mizana

=

Libra.

8.

Alakarabo

Al-aqrabu

=

Scorpio.

9-

Alakaosy

Al-qausu

=

Sagittarius and arcus.

10.

Adijady

Al-dsehadiu

=

Capricornus.

II.

Adalo

Ad-dalvu

=

Aquaritis.

12.

Alohotsy

Al-hutu

=

Pisces.

2 20 Divination among the Malagasy.

of these heavenly bodies, and consequently at the mercy
of those who are supposed to understand these often very
intricate affairs. People are generally under the spell of
those who know their destiny beforehand (while they do
not know it themselves), who have the power of remedying
the evils of it, and are able to tell them both wJiat they
ought to do, and wJien they should do it. When we
remember the great influence that astrologers had over
emperors, kings, and princes during the Middle Ages, and
even far into the 17th century, we can easily understand
what powers they must have had (and still have) in a
country like Madagascar."

With regard to lucky and unlucky days, the following
remarks may be made :

1. Although the different months were thought to
have their peculiar character (according to the constel-
lations they were named from) and their special piacula
and offerings, etc., it does not appear that one month was
considered more unlucky than another. The difference
in this respect was a difference between the different
days of the month; which, it must be remembered, were
named after the month-names also, eight having two, and
four three, days respectively allotted to each, as ist, 2nd,
and 3rd of Alahamady; ist and 2nd of Adaoro; and so
on, but each of the twenty-eight being also called by the
names of the Manazil-ul-kaniari , or moon-stations.

2. The characters of the days evidently did not depend
so much on from what month-name it took, as on what
moon-station it represented. Therefore we often find two
successive days with the same name common to both, of
which one was considered good, the other bad. E.g., the
1st and 2nd of Asorotany were good, and were, and are
still, favourite days for fdviadlJiana (the ceremony of
removing corpses from an old family grave to a new one) ;
but the 3rd day was considered bad.

3. Some days were considered absolutely bad ; e.g., the
3rd of Asorotany the 2nd of Asombola, the 2nd of

Divination among the Malagasy. 221

Alakaosy, and the ist of Adijady ; others were absolutely
good, e.g., the three days called Alahamady, and the 2nd of
Alakarabo ; others again were considered indifferent, eg.,
the 1st and 2nd of Alahasaty.

4. Some days again were not considered good in general,
but still good enough for special purposes ; e.g., the ist of
Alakarabo was excellent for a house-warming ; the 2nd of
Adijady was good for marking out the ground for a new
town ; and the 3rd of Adimizana was a lucky day to be
born on, but a bad day for business.

5. Some days had a special peculiarity of their own ;
e.g., children born on the 2nd of Adalo generally became
dumb ! so they say.

6. Even the bad days were generally so only in the
sense of having too strong a vintana. This was especially
the reason why children born on these days were con-
sidered a very doubtful gift. Hence the infanticide in
former times in the central provinces of Madagascar, and
still practised in most parts of the country where Chris-
tianity has not yet been taught. Sometimes, however, the
diviner managed to remedy the evil in one way or another ;
and occasionally nothing more was required than to give
the child a name which intimated that the child would not
do any harm, notwithstanding its strong vintana. Hence
such names as Itsimanosika,^ Itsimandratra," Itsimaniho,^
Itsimanolaka,'* etc., all expressing in a general way that
the child would be harmless. Those born on the 2nd of
Adalo were often called Itsimarofy ("One who is not ill"),
to avert the danger of dumbness.

Not only were the twenty-eight days of the month
called after the month-names (and also after the moon-
stations), but, as already mentioned, a Hova house of the
old style had also its sides and corners named after the

1 One who does not push.

2 One who does not hurt.

* One who does not elbow.

* One who does not weaken.

222 Divination among the Malagasy.

same fashion, beginning with the first month-name, Ala-
hamady, at the north-eastern corner, that is, the sacred
part of the house, where the family charm was placed, and
where prayers and invocations were offered. The inmates,
on each day, had to take particular care not to go to the
corner or side assigned to that particular day, or, at all
events, not to place a sick person there, for, by so doing,
they would provoke the spirit of that region. (See dia-
gram herewith given.)

EAST

Alahasaty

Alohobsy

NORTH

SOUTH

Asombola

mA WEST

Malagasy House, showing localities of San-amiro Months and Days.

Mr. Dahle says that the vintana is really the key to the
whole system of idolatry in Madagascar, and to everything
connected with it, at least so far as it got any real hold on
the people ; while the sikidy practice is also closely mixed
up with it, although many points still need further investi-
gation.

B. — The last division of the subject, that of San-andj'o or
Planetary Vintana, must be discussed very briefly. The
word san-andrOy in its use among the Malagasy, means
the peculiarities or character of the days of the week as
depending on the Seven Planets, considered as governors
of these days. The following is a list of the days of the

Divination among the Malagasy. 223

Malagasy week, together with their respective smi-andro
names, and their special numbers and characters : —

English
Name.

Malagasy
Name.

San-andro
Name.

Arabic
Origi?i.

Meaning.

Character.

Number.

Sunday

Alahady i

Samosy

Shams

Sun

good

I

Monday

Alatsinainy

Alakam^ry

Al-gamar

Moon

bad

5

Tuesday

Talata.

Mariky

Marrik

Mars

good

2

Wednesday

Alarobia

Motarita

Utarit

Mercury

good

6

Thursday

Alakamisy

Mosataro

Mushtari

Jupiter

bad

3

Friday

Zoma

Zohara

Zahro

Venus

bad

7

Saturday

Asabotsy

Johady

Zahal

Saturn

neutra

4

The fourth column of the above list gives the Arabic
names of the Seven Planets, from which Mr. Dahle
shows that the san-dndi'o names of the week-days were
clearly derived.

Anyone who has the slightest knowledge of Latin will
see immediately that what were in Malagasy the extra-
ordinary day-names, only used in san-andro, were in Latin
the ordinary day-names (^Dies Solis, Lun(2, Martis, etc.) ;
and their retention in part amongst modern European
nations, with changes, as among ourselves, for Teutonic
god-names, for some days, is well known. The explana-
tion, says Mr, Dahle, of this rather curious fact, no doubt,
is that the astrology of Babylonia spread both to Arabia
and from thence to Madagascar, and also to Europe ; and
that, according to this astrology, the planets in question,
and the gods identified with them, held the sway over the
days of the week ; and it depended on the supposed
nature of each planet whether the day under its sway
should be considered a lucky or an unlucky one. JVhy
such differences were supposed to result from the different

^ Mr. Dahle had previously shown (in Antananarn'O Annual,
No. II, pp. 79-80) that these native names for the days of the week
are of purely Arabic origin, the first five names being simply numerals
from one to five, the first four being cardinals used as ordinals, and
the fifth an ordinal ("One day", "Two day', etc.) ; the sixth is from
Bschiana, " Congregation Day", the Sabbath of the Mohammedans ;
while the seventh is simply the Hebrew " Sabbath", slightly altered
in spelling and termination.

2 24 Divination among the Malagasy.

planets it is very difficult to say ; but we know that the
notion of lucky and unlucky days has been tenaciously
held by the common people in the different countries of
Europe, and still retains its hold in many places.

It will be observed that the last column of the above
list gives a certain number connected with each day-name,,
and that these do not follow the order in which the days
occur in the week, except in the case of the first. These
numbers have, however, great importance in the practical
part o{ san-andro, as will be seen.

1. The San-andro of the Dead, or Direct San-andro. — This
had reference apparently exclusively to burials ; if a corpse
was to be buried, it would probably be done on a " good"
day (Sunday, Tuesday, or Wednesday) ; but the proceed-
ings depended greatly on the numbers characteristic of the
san-andro of that day. If, for instance, it was on Wednes-
day, the special number of which is 6, they had to stop six
times with the bier on the way to the grave, throw down a
stone at each stopping-place, and carry the corpse six times
round the grave before they buried it. And so, mutatis
mutandis, with the other days, according to their special
numbers.

It is impossible, with our present knowledge, to say why
these different days acquired their special numbers, as they
do not follow the order either of the six or the brightness
of the respective planets. The Moon-day, it will be seen,
is not No. 2 on the list, as might have been supposed, but
No. 5 ; and the Venus-day is not No. 3, but No. 7.

2. The San-andro of the Living, or the San-andro which
was counted ^^ Backwards". — This appears to have had re-
ference only to sacrifices ; in offering these, the invocations
made by the priest referred, not to the san-andro of the
day the offering was made, but to that of " the day before
yesterday", in other words, two days backward. Offerings
could only be brought on the three " good" days ; but the
sikidy could be performed on any day.

3. TJie Chai'acter of the Seven Days of the Week in rela-

Divination aniong the Malagasy. 225

tion to Evils and the Foretelling- of Evils. — The following
rules were given to Mr. Dahle by his native " professor":

1. Sunday was the proper day for everything white :

white-haired people, white stones, etc.

2. Monday: the day for everything ^r^^;? and black-

ish : grass, forests, greenish birds, people with
blackish skin, etc.

3. Tuesday : the day of people who have many scars,

and are marked from small-pox.

4. Wednesday : the day of ivoinen and everything

female.

5. Thursday: the day of i-Zrtz/^j-.

6. Friday: the day of nobles and everything red (red

or scarlet clothes, etc.), characteristic of the
higher nobility.

7. Saturday: the day of young people and every-

thing young.

So if a man suffering from some evil came to a diviner
on a Sunday, he would be told that his complaint had
been caused by some white stone ; or by drinking milk, in
which there were some ghosts ; or that he had been be-
witched by some white-haired woman ; or, at any rate,
that he was in danger of some such mishap, and had better
look out carefully. If he came on Thursday, his trouble
was almost sure to be attributed to some slave, or he was
warned to beware of his slaves, lest they should murder or
bewitch him. And so on, for the other days, according to
the nature of the day.

4. Foretelling of the Tdsik' imdro, i.e., the day on which
one may be in special danger of getting ill through the in-
fluence of the vintana. — This division of the sa^i-andro was
a peculiar compound of vintana and sikidy subjected to
certain rules, by which, beginning with Tuesday, different
columns in the sikidy point to the different days of the
week ; e.g., if a combination of the two columns Trdno and
Ldlana in the sikidy erected gives a figure which is like

VOL. III. Q

226 Divination among the Malagasy.

Tale (which represents the man in question), he is in
danger of being taken ill on Tuesday. If the figures in
Lalana and Mpdnontdny are like Tale, Wednesday is the
unlucky day for him ; and so on with other combinations.
It is needless here to detail the remedies for these sup-
posed evils.

Mr. Dahle says in his concluding sentence : " The sikidy
and vintana was once the most tremendous power in
Madagascar ; let us thank God that its spell is broken, and
its influence passing away." I fancy there are few who will
not say " Amen" to that sentiment ; for whatever may be
the interest which these old Malagasy customs have for us
as students of folk-lore and humanity (and I venture to
think that Mr. Dahle's researches are full of interest), we
must surely rejoice that such a system of folly and cre-
dulity on the one hand, and of trickery and deceit on the
other, is losing its hold over the most influential tribe of
Madagascar, the people who have gradually become the
dominant race of the island. And I trust I shall be par-
doned when, as a Christian missionary, I remind you that
the remarkable changes which have passed over the central
provinces of the great African island are the direct result
of the educational, the enlightening, and the purifying in-
fluences which attend the proclamation of the Gospel of
Christ. It was this which, from forty to fifty years ago,
enabled about 200 Malagasy believers to lay down their
lives for their faith ; it is this which is now, especially in
the interior provinces, promoting education, forming an
extensive literature, and furthering civilisation ; and it is
this alone which is slowly but surely lifting up the entire
community to the level of an intelligent, enlightened, and
Christian people.

James Sibree.

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN.

FIVE years ago, " as I vvalk'd through the wilderness of
this world, I lighted on a certain place" called Han-
over, and tarried there awhile. Encouraged by the assur-
ance of Browning, that —

" Hamelin Town 's in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city,"

I formed an enthusiastic resolve to tread in the footsteps of
the " Pied Piper", and to do what I could to investigate the
history of that old North-German tradition, smiled on by
the genius of our great poet, and added within the last half-
century to the common stock of English nursery-delights.
The undertaking was greater than I anticipated. I had
not realised that to one with a scarce school-girl knowledge
of the language of the country, research would prove even
more difficult than it is wont to be ; and I had trusted too
blindly to Browning's exactness in the matter of topography.
That " Hamelin Town 's in" Hanover, and not in Bruns-
wick, was of no real consequence ; but that " by famous
Hanover city", translated into prose, should signify over
twenty-five miles off — fifty there and back, to be impressed
on the memory by the " calm deliberation" of a State rail-
way— was a fact of serious importance to one who had but
little leisure for excursions. However, I did contrive to trot
my hobby thrice to Hameln, and I set my seven senses
loose on the track of the Piper. Of course they were at
fault : the Pied One ran to earth six centuries ago, and
may not since then have visited "the glimpses of the moon";
but, in spite of that, I derived some sort of satisfaction from
my introduction to the place ; and as I have since, person-

Q2

228 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

ally and per alios, taken much pains to get at the literature
of my subject, I hope I may be borne with as I attempt to
set a portion of the result before the readers of FOLK-
LORE.

Hameln is a charming old town, and if you go there
knowing that it is one of the shrines of folk-lore, and go in
sympathetic mood, you will feel as if you had passed out
of every-day environment into story-land, and may wonder
whether you have done so in a dream, or whether the bliss
be yours in tangible reality. If in a dream, that would
account for divers incongruities, and take away the shock
of intrusive modernisms for which it were folly to blame
the I i,ooo who make the place their home, and whose main
care it cannot be to live up to the picturesque tradition of
which it is the scene. A very little make-believe, an equal
knowledge of the history of architectural styles, and then,
when you are in the quaint main street, whatever season
and whatever year it be for other folk, it is with you the
festival of SS. John and Paul, the 26th of June 1284 ; and
you set your ears to catch some echo of the strain which
wiled the lost but never-yet-forgotten children forth. Shortly
after the Osterstrasse is entered on, a fine early 17th century
dwelling, on the left, is safe to claim attention ; it goes by
the name of the Rattenfanger {i.e., Ratcatcher's) Haus, and
is probably so called because the end which abuts on the
Bungelosestrasse has an inscription,^ in German, more
archaic than the building itself, commemorating the Out-
going. At the other extremity of the Osterstrasse is a
similar record'^ on the Wedding- or Hochzeitshaus, a fine

^ " Anno 1284. Am Dage Johannis et Pauli War der 26. Junii Durch
einen Pieper mit allerly Farve bekledet Gewesen cxxx Kinder verledet
Binnen Hameln geboren To Calverie bi den Koppen verloren." As
given in Hameln und Bad Pyrinonl : IVegweiser (Hameln, Fuende-

ling), P- 5-

2 " Nach Christi Geburt 1284 Jahr Gingen bei den Koppen unter
Verwahr Hundert und dreissig Kinder, in Hameln geboren von einem
Pfeiffer verfiirt und verloren." (Fuendeling's Wegweiser, p. 6.)

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 229

structure erected between 1610 and 1617 for marriage
festivities, but diverted from its purpose since 1721.^
Behind rises the spire of the parish church of S. Nicholas,
which may still enwall stones that witnessed how the parents
prayed, while the Piper wrought sorrow for them without.
On Sunday morning, too, some of the story-tellers say it
was; but June 26th, 1284, was Monday; and in 1376,8. Mary
Magdalene's Day, July 22nd, another alleged date (accept-
able to Browning), fell on a Tuesday, if tables in Sir Harris
Nicolas's Chronology of History be trustworthy. An ancient
minster greatly rejuvenated, formerly the collegiate church
of S. Boniface (Bonifatiusstift), is some little distance off
on the left, hard by the bank of the Weser, which flows
west of the town, not south, as Browning says, and goes
with a sweep that would soon carry a horde of rats out of
reach of flesh-pots. Golden mice were made by the Philis-
tines- in Samuel's time when they were delivered from the
plague that marred their land ; but that may have been a
golden age : this is an age of gingerbread, and the Hameln
people manufacture rats accordingly. It will be under-
stood that I use the word " gingerbread" generically : the
artists work in sugar, chocolate, and other plastic materials,
as best it pleases them. The card conveying " Grlisse aus
Hameln" is nibbled round the edges to show its authen-
ticity. In short, in tourist-season the staple trade seems to
embody itself in rodents, for which the noted flour-mill on
the river, in more senses than one, provides the raw material.
I must also add that if the sapid sewers be quite free from
rats, the rats neglect an opportunity.

In one window tin whistles, which bore token of being of
British origin, were ticketed as " Rattenfanger Pfeifen", and
though, when a lad with me put one of them to his lips,
not a ridiadus mus came forth, it was plain that the child-
ren around were all alert and curious. Possibly, however,

1 Sprenger's Geschichte der Stadt Hameln, bearbeitet vom Amtmann
von Reissenstein, p. 153 (Hameln, 1S61). Sprenger published in 1825.
^ I Samuel, vi, 4, 5.

230 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

being warned by their elders against Pipers, as perils pecu-
liar to the district, they may have planted their feet firmly
and looked about for the police. In 1887 photographs of
the beguiler abounded ; not of course of the original Bunting,
but of a well-fed burgher who personated him in June 1884,
when Hameln made the best of her loss by celebrating that
most famous incident in her history with pageant, speech,
and pleasantry, thus causing, as somebody has observed, a
tragedy to be the motive of a festival,^ Two days the
revels lasted : on the first, Herr Pietsch stood out and
piped, and a multitude of children dressed in grey, with
rat- like masks and india-rubber tails, swarmed after him ;
on the second, his music gathered little ones, in old-world
garb, and he led them to a quasi-" Koppenberg" — but, like
the King of France's army, " they all marched back again"!
Julius Wolff, who has woven a charming poem^ out of the
Rattenfanger story, was there, and so was Victor Nessler
the Alsatian composer, whose very popular opera^ is for the
most part a musical rendering of Wolff It were vain to
speculate how many shades of other Hameln-stricken
authors were hovering around. I think this festival may
have quickened Holbe, the sculptor's remarkable figure, of
which I have a miniature reproduction here ; as also a pho-
tograph which shows the expression of subtle malignancy
far better than the cast. At the time of my visits the town
sought money to have this figure erected in the Pferdemarkt.
A companion statuette was of Gertrude, the fisher-girl,
who was Singuf's — so Wolff calls him — love. The pair are
already honoured in the fountain here represented.

When I came to seek for the Koppel, or Koppenberg,
where the children of 1284 are said to have vanished, it

^ Das Rattenfafiger/est m Hameln, p. i, etc. (Hameln, Niemeyer,
1884). Information about costumes from a letter from Fuendeling( 1892).

^ Der Rattenfd7iger von Hameln: Eine Aventciire, 2 5te Auflage,
(Berlin, 1885).

^ Der Rattettfdnger von Hameln. Oper in fiinf Akten (Leipzig,
1887).

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 231

seemed to me as if I were directed in turn to all points of
the compass ; and I thought then, and have thought ever
since, that there is something in the atmosphere of Hameln
which tends to bewilderment and suggests enchantment.
I sometimes felt there as if I were the victim of a spell ;
and maybe some tricksy Ariel zuas making me his sport.
The fact that I and my companions spoke as barbarians
had possibly something to do with the difficulties ; then,
too, certain of the people appealed to may have fancied we
were in quest of the Kltit, the hill to which Pietsch led his
followers on the festal day ; and others may not have
known — as at the outset I did not — that what is now
called the Bassberg was, according to some, the mediaeval
Koppen. Koppen is suggestive of heads, and Dr. Otto
Meinardus, Royal Archivist at Berlin, who has bestowed
much research on the records of his native Hameln, believes
that the scene of the Disappearance was the two-headed
Teutberg, which commands the Hildesheim and Hanover
roads, and bars the end of the Weser valley,^ This would
be a far cry for the little children ; but the Bassberg is
within a stroll from the town, and I have but little doubt
that I meditated on its summit on the occasion of my
third hunt at Hameln. I am not as easily convinced as
were the writer and the illustrator of a pleasant paper in
the Magazine of Art- ; the hill was pointed out to them
from a distance, they seem to have gone by instinct to the
proper knoll, and (to quote) " we pitched at once on the
spot where we felt sure the laughing children had dis-
appeared ; a huge wild rose-bush, glowing with scarlet
hips, was growing there. It must have been a lovely
sight of flowers some months before. We gathered a
bunch of the scarlet fruit as a memory of our visit. There

^ Neues Material zur Geschichte dcr Rattenfdngersage^ in Zeitschrift
des historischen Vereins fiir Niedersachsen, 1885, p. 267.

'" Hameln, the Towtt of the Pied Piper or " Der Ratten/dnger^'
(vol. for 1890, p. 192), by Katharine M. Macquoid.

232 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

was nothing besides this rose-tree to mark the scene of
the mysterious catastrophe."

It is a curious coincidence that about 1654 roses^ were
all that Erich could discern on a sculptured stone on the
Koppen, which was regarded as a memorial of that Exodus
Hanieletisis of which he was writing. Only a few years
ago there were old people who professed to remember two
stones in the form of a cross upon the hill^ ; and I myself
fell in with a young man, of some twenty summers, who
seemed to assert that he had often seen the record ; yet I
looked and looked in vain, and was scarcely solaced when
Dr. Meinardus wrote to me^ : " A memorial stone with an
inscription on the so-called Koppen you will never find.
If such a thing ever existed, which is doubtful, it is no
longer there."

Is the episode of the Pied Piper credible? is the question
that has been for some time before me ; and, at the risk of
incurring your scorn, I answer that it is. A few accretions,
such as no tradition or even frequently re-written story is
likely to avoid, must of course be cleared off; but this
may easily be done, and then I think nothing will be
found remaining that any reverent-minded folk-lorer need
decline to hold.

Early in the present century an account of the Hameln
disaster was distilled from ten different sources (four only
of them to be sipped of at the British Museum) by the
Brothers Grimm, for their Deutsche Sagen^ where it runs
essentially as follows. In the year 1284, a strange man
appeared at Hameln wearing a many-coloured coat, which is
said to have earned for him the name of Bundting. He gave

^ Sprenger, p. 15, note.

- " Alte Leute in Hameln wollen diese Kreuze noch gekannt haben."
— Letter from Herr Fuendeling, 1887.

^ "Einen Gedenkstein mit einer Inschrift am sogenanten ' Koppen'
warden Sie wol nie finden. Wenn ein solcher vorhanden war, was
man bezweifeln muss, so ist er jetzt keineswegs mehr dort."^i887.

* Vol. i (2nd ed.), pp. 290-2.

The Pied Piper of Ha7ne/in. 233

himself out to be a rat-catcher, and promised to free the
town from mice and rats for a stated sum, which the burghers
agreed to pay. He drew out a Httle pipe, sounded it, and
straightway all the rats and mice ran from the houses and
gathered round him. He led them to the Weser, and,
when he trussed up his garments and entered the water,
they rushed in after him and were drowned. Then the
burghers, being freed from the plague, repudiated their
contract with Bundting, who departed in hot anger. On
the Festival of SS. John and Paul, the 26th of June, at
seven o'clock in the morning, or, as some say, at midday,
he appeared again in the guise of a hunter with a curious
red cap on his head, and he sounded his pipe in the lanes.
At once came forth, not rats and mice, but children — boys
and girls of four years old and upwards — and, moreover,
the Burgermaster's grown-up daughter. All followed him,
followed him out till they came to a hill, where he and
they disappeared. So said a nursemaid, who, babe in
arms, had felt the attraction from afar. Parents hastened,
crowding through the gates, to seek their darlings, messen-
gers were sent over land and water to pursue the guest ;
but everything was vain. In all, 130 children were a-
missing. Some have it that two — one blind, the other
dumb, and apparently also deaf — came back again : the
former, unable to point out the place of disappearance,
could yet tell well enough why the Piper had been fol-
lowed ; while the mute knew the place, but had been
insensible to the sound. A little lad who set off running
in his shirt, and returned to fetch his coat, took up the
pursuit too late to share the lot of his playmates.

This I believe to be a fair presentment of the story as
it would now be told by one whose memory had not been
led astray by latter-day literary adepts, who have elabo-
rated the theme. The curious in chronology may perhaps
take exception to my date, for authors offer a bewildering
variety, ranging from 1259 to 1378. Sometimes a theory
is accountable; sometimes the habit of there or thereabout-

234 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

ness. 1 53 1 and 1556 were dates that, in earlier times,
appeared one under the other at Hameln upon its Neuethor/
above a legend stating that the gate was erected 272
years after the Outgoing: 272 subtracted from 1531 gives
1259; from 1556, 1284; result, uncertainty. A writer in
1556^ speaks of about 180 years ago; another, in 1568,^
puts it at about 190 ; while in 1643* it is a matter of 250
years since. 1284 has, at present, vogue in Hameln. I
fancy Browning's direct authority for 1376 was Verstegan.^
I have an impression that I range myself with a very
small minority in accepting the account of the Outgoing
just given as being approximately true. The explana-
tions that have been offered to make it more credible to
the majority may be glanced at. (i) It has been elabo-
rated out of a possible mock-fight on the Koppen, in
which earnest succeeded jest, and many young men were
slain, and so lost to their parents. (2) An earthquake or
a landslip engulfed the 130. (3) Tilo Colup, pretending
that he was the Emperor Frederick II returned from the
Holy Land, attracted many followers in the latter part of
the 13th century, and missing Hameln lads may have been
among them. (4) In 1286, Jews are said to have murdered
children in a mill at Fulda : Hameln being originally Quern
Hameln, the sorrow was possibly imputed to her by error.
(5) There was strife in Brunswick in 1281 between Duke
Albrecht and his sons. One of them, being arrested and
imprisoned without warning, his sudden removal may have

^ Passim; but see Sprenger, pp. 14 and 152. The inscription ran :
" Centu ter denos cum magus ab urbe puellos duxerat ante 272
condita porta fui."

2 Fincelius. ^ Hondorff. * Howell.

•^ A Restitution of Decayed Ifttelligence, 1605 (1634, pp. 85, 86). Mr.
Arthur Symons {An Introduction to the Study of Brownings p. 50)
says, "North Wanley's Wonders of the Little World, 1678, and the
books there cited", were the authorities. Wanley gives 1284, and
two out of the three writers on whom he depends, never so much as
mention 1376; the third, Schot, /"/^j.?. Curios, I have not met wi^h.
Wier and Howell are the others.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 235

been multiplied by 130.^ (6) Fein- believed that he un-
masked fable when he maintained the slaughter of many
sons of Hameln at the battle of Sedemlinde (1259),
and the carrying of others into captivity, to be the
groundwork of the legend. He observed that on a sculp-
tured house in the Papenstrasse the Piper was followed by
youths bearing spears.^ Still, setting aside the fact that it
is hardly likely the glory and fate of war would be reduced
to anything as ignominious as the Koppen catastrophe,
the two events were recorded as separate items in one of
the municipal registers* ; and the result of the fight was
annually commemorated in the parish church of S. Nicholas^
and at the Bonifatiusstiff^ on S. Pantaleon's Day. (7)
Some authors give a mystical interpretation ; Dr. Busch,^
for instance, regards the Piper as the Aryan death-god ;
and others talk of Dame Hulda, and see souls in the rats
as well as in the children. (8) Our own countryman, Mr.
Baring-Gould, writes : " The root of the myth is this : the
Piper is no other than the wind, and the ancients held
that in the wind were the souls of the dead."^ (9) I do
not recollect whether those universal resolvents — Dawn
and Darkness — have been called into requisition, but, if I
myself were asked to give the mot (Tenigme, I should say
with confidence Bunting is an apt designation for the
source of colour, and Kockerill, another name applied to
him in story ,^ suggests " the bird of dawning". We need
not hesitate to recognise the sun in the pied musician,
who banishes those nocturnal marauders, rats, and renders

^ First five suggestions in Martin Schoock's Fabula Hamelensis
(1659), of which I have an abstract.

^ Die entlarvete Fabel vom Aiisgange der Hatnelschen Kinder
(1749). I know this only at second-hand.

^ Von Reissenstein's note to Sprenger, p. 15.

* Die historische Kern, by Dr. Meinardus (1882), p. 49.

^ Sprenger, p. 10. ^ Meinardus, p. 24.

"^ Die Grenzboten, i. Semester, 1875, p. 505.

* Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, p. 427.

' Die Wunderpfei/e, oderdie Kinder von Hameln, by Gustav Nieritz.

o

6 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

minor heavenly bodies invisible by his brightness. It is
on such lines that the story of Apollo Smintheus is inter-
preted.^

But now let us turn from these ingenuities, and set our-
selves to consider what claim the story of the Pied Piper
may have to be received as an essentially true if not wholly
unvarnished tale. How does it appear when we seek for a
record of it in writings of the 13th century, in books which
must have been penned before this more than nine-days'
wonder had ceased to interest, and long ere wounds in
Hameln hearts would heal ? Martin Schoock, who essayed
to demolish what he called the Fabula Hamelensis in 1659,
assures us that no contemporary left note of the event, and
gives us to understand that there was an ominous con-
sensus of silence concerning it for some 250 years, until
1 6th century authors busied themselves to make it known.
He delivers himself in Latin ; but, being interpreted, he
seems to say : " Under the Emperor Rudolf of Hapsburg,
who began to reign A.D. 1272, lived the compiler of the
Annales Cohnariensinvi, who with his continuator reaches
1302 ; of all those whom I know, he is the most ignorant
of the laws of history, and descends even to such poor
matters as the details of the harvest and vintage, and of the
sale of ripe strawberries, cherries, and pears in the June of
1283. Who would believe that an author relating such
minuticB would neglect a prodigy whose fame ought to
have filled, if not all Europe at least all Germany? Also
Werner Rolewinck a Laer, a Westphalian, a man deeply
learned in the Scriptures, and in matters secular ....
though living near Hameln and stopping at 1464, does not
gather this flower, the exit of the children from that town,
into his nosegay {Fasciculi Tcviporiini). Like remark
might be made of the author of the Magnum Chronicon
Belgici, ending 1474, who revels in all kinds of historic
trifles ; of Trithenius, Abbot of Spanheim, who snatched
from darkness whatever was worth remembering in his
^ Curious Myths, p. 435.

The Pied Pipe}' of Hamelin. 237

Chronicon Hirsangiense ending 1370, and Spanheiniense
ending with 1502; of Hartmann Schedel, author of the
Nuremburg Chronicle, down to 1492 ; Nauclerus, Chan-
cellor of the University of Tubingen, whose record goes
through several generations to 1500 : and of Albert Crantz,
author of a Saxon history reaching to 1520. Even Paulus
Langius, though there be rare things in his chronicle, which
ends in 15 15, omits this story, nor is there a trace of it in
Johannes Aventinium. Hence we are of opinion," adds
Schoock, " that this affair is an invention of superstition
and monkish ignorance."

Well, possibly it may be all this ; but I cannot myself
allow that an alleged event of medieval times ought to be
stamped out of credence, merely because it was not
chronicled by certain contemporary scribes, whose works
we happen to know, but of whose idiosyncrasies, dis-
abilities, motives, and scope we cannot adequately judge.
A case in point is the following : I confess I began to
sympathise with the incredulity of Schoock when I learnt
from Sprenger^ that John de Polde or Pohle takes no
notice of the Outgoing in his Chronicon Hamelense, for he
worked at it as an aged man in 1384, and if he came of
native stock,^ his own father may have been in peril from
the Piper, may have been the very babe who kept the
nursemaid back from joining in the rout. This considera-
tion loses cogency when we know the limit of the under-
taking. Meinardus^ tells us that we ought not to wonder
at Pohle's silence, because he was merely engaged on a
history of the Collegiate Church at Hameln, of which he
was a canon, and that he did not meddle with municipal
matters or speak of political events. Let us give the good
man credit for minding his own business, and acknowledge
that he had nothing to do with ours. We should re-
member, too, that although the narrative in which we are

1 Pp. 16 and 268.

* This, his surname does not encourage us to suppose.

^ Der historische Ker?7, p. 1 4.

238 The Pied Piper of Hainelin,

interested did not engage the pens of the aforesaid writers,
it may nevertheless have put in motion those of other
scribes whose parchments have been less successful in the
war with Time. When we reflect how strangely rare
copies of whole editions of comparatively modern books
have grown, we ought not to find it difficult to realise that
hundreds of unique MSS. would utterly pass out of being
through fire, water, and violence in the blustrous Middle
Ages. With them would perish the sole record of some
episodes which our after-times have never heard of, and
likewise the only documentary evidence of others that,
until the invention of printing, would be handed on to later
ages by tradition. It is with these latter that I would have
you class the Hameln story, if I should fail to show there
is reason for thinking that its preservation was never for
long, if indeed at all, confided to the popular memory
alone.

From the i6th century, when men's minds were roused
into fertility by great religious agitation and by the im-
pulse of the new learning, and when the fresh faculty of
multiplying copies had encouraged the making of books
and lessened their chance of extermination, we have abun-
dant testimony that concerns us. The earliest I can quote
is that of Fincelius, a Doctor of Medicine, who — to trans-
late the quaint German of his Wundcrzeiclten^ (^SS^).
says : " Of the Devil's power and wickedness will I here
tell a true history. About 180 years ago, on S. Mary
Magdalene's Day, it came to pass at Hammel on the
Weser in Saxony, that the Devil went about the streets
visibly in human form, piped and allured many children,
boys and girls, and led them through the town-gate to-
wards a mountain. When he arrived there he disappeared
with the numerous children who had followed him, and
nobody knew what became of the children. Thus did a
girl who had followed them afar report to her parents, and
thereupon diligent search and inquiry was soon made over

1 C, V.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 239

land and water to find out whether the children had pos-
sibly been stolen and led away. But nobody could tell
what had become of the children. This grieved the
parents terribly, and is a fearful example of divine anger
against sin. This is all written in the town-book of Ham-
mel, where many persons of high standing have read and
heard it."

" Written in the town-book of Hammel", he says, and so
say not only Hondorff^ (1568), who took Fincelius on
trust, and later men who nourished themselves on Hon-
dorff; but the assertion is confirmed by Wier, who visited
Hameln in 1567,- and seems to have made personal ex-
amination of all the evidence it could adduce in support of
its fame. He had published his book on the "Delusions
of Devils", De PrcBstigiis Dc^moTiorum, in 1563, the second
edition in the following year, but showed no sign of know-
ing anything of that " modern instance", the Pied Piper.
He had heard of it, however, before a third issue of his work
was ready at Basle in 1566, and he made it the subject of
a short paragraph. A few months later, he sought the
locus in quo, and became as enthusiastic a believer as even
I could wish in the authenticity of all that he was shown
and told. The 4th edition of De Prcustigiis, which came
out in 1577, gives token of this : after repeating the narra-
tive, he says in Latin, what amounts in English to : " These
facts are thus written in the annals of Hammel and are re-
ligiously guarded in the archives ; they are to be read also
in the sacred books of the Church, and to be seen in the
painted panes of the same ; of which fact I am an eye
witness. Besides, as confirmation of the story, the older^

1 Promptorium Exemplorum, p. 6()b.

^ This and what follows concerning Wier is gathered from Alei-
nardus's pamphlet, Der historische Kern, pp. 14, 15. Wier's work is
not in the British Museum Library.

^ Subsequent to 1379 a change in the local government took place,
rnd enactments in the statute-book {Der Donat) customarily begin
"de olde rad un de nye hebbet ghesateghet". (Sprenger, pp. 31 and
I77-)

240 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

magistracy was accustomed to write together on its public
documents: "in the year of Christ and in that of the going
out of the children," etc. Moreover, care is taken to this
day that there should be a perpetual memorial of the event,
for the sound of a drum [tympanuvi] is never allowed in
that street along which the children went forth, and even
if a bride be led from it, there must be no music till she has
passed out, nor are dances performed there. In con-
sequence of this the street is actually called Burgelo-
scstrass" — or, as Meinardus corrects, Bungelosestrasse, or
Drumless Street, Bunge signifying Trommel. In 1634
Richard Vestegan^ writes that " no Ostery" is " to be there
holden."

There is a Bungelose,- or Bungenlos^ (the name is
variously spelt) Street now at Hameln in which no kind
of music is permitted, excepting that which steals in
through the air, as I have heard it do, from some player
otherwhere. I thought I had caught the burghers napping;
but no; the notes were for the enlivenment of an adjacent
street, and no by-law could forbid them to creep over and
through the houses into the lane sacred to a never-forgotten
grief. That the Bungelosestr. was not invented, as some
have suggested, in the middle of the sixteenth century, to
furnish a substantial background to the Pied Piper is
evident, since Dr. Meinardus's discovery* of a document
at Hameln, in which, under the date Friday, the i6th of
September 1496, occurs the phrase " uppe der bungehelos-
enstrate". It is, of course, open to anyone to say that an
odd, because probably corrupt, name was pressed into the
service of our legend. My own doubt hovers, rather, over
the point that a tuneless thing like a drum should be
taken as the representative musical instrument, in a case

^ P. 86. I have not seen the Restiiu/ion of 1605.
2 Plan issued by Schmidt and Suckert.
^ Gier's Plan.

* Die Bu?igeloscstrasse, in Zeiischrift des historischen Vercins fiir
Niedersachsen^ 1884, pp. 271-2.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 241

where a pipe would have been far more typical and
suggestive.

The memorial-glass " on the great church window
painted", which Browning sang, was probably of that
which Wier saw. It was not in the Minster, but in the
parish church of S. Nicholas, at the east end. " Anno
1 571" is at the base of the inscription, as quoted by
Schoock from Erich's Exodus Hamelensis, a work not in
the British Museum Library, and at present beyond my
reach. This must refer to a restoration of the glass at
the instance of Friedrich Poppendieck, which Bunting
notes.^ Wier's visit was four years earlier than that,
namely in 1567, By 1654, when Erich wrote, the legend
was somewhat imperfect,^ but one can see that it told of
the leading forth of the Hameln children to the Koppen
on that fateful day of S. John and S. Paul. The " storied
window" was turned to good account by Pastor Letzner,
1590, who, in his Chronicle concerning the foundations at
Hildesheim, exclaims with reference to it,^ " O you dear
Christian parents, do not behold and gaze on this painting,
merely as a cow or some other irrational beast looks at an
old door ; but ponder it in your hearts in a Christian
manner, and do not let your children run astray, so that
the Devil gets power over them, as may soon and easily
happen." If you ask me what became of this interesting
glass, which Seyfrid in 1679 mentions in the Medulla as
then existing, I think I can give you a hint. I supposed
the French — who are the " Oliver Cromwells" of the
Continent — had made an end of it during their occupation
of Hameln, when they used the Marktkirche as a hospital ;
but I fear the blame is more likely to be our own. The

1 Braiinschweigisch-Libieburgische Chronica,^. 52 (vol. i, 1584; ii,
J 584).

- AM . DAGE JOHANNES UND . PALI SINT . BINNEN HAMMELIN .
GEBAREN . THOK VARIE . UNDE DORCH ALLDRLEI .
GEDEN . KOPPEN.

Anno 1571.
^ Die Grenzboten, No. 26, p. 500.

VOL. III. R

242 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

building served as a storehouse for booty after the battle
of Minden in 1759, and that being disposed of, the Engh'sh
turned it into a flour-magazine. According to the indig-
nant Sprenger/ " they destroyed pulpit, altar, and organ,
an outrage which the French, though enemies, had not
permitted. The paintings were burnt, and many of the
organ-pipes stolen."

We will next consider what written testimony the men
of Hameln could present to the enquiring Wier. He
speaks of Church books in the plural, and there is no
reason to doubt that he saw them ; but they are all gone
somewhither by this time, and, as far as I know, only a
single volume has been specifically named,- a Passio7iale of
the Middle Ages, the title-page of which was inscribed
in red ink, with an invocation to the B.V.M., and some
poor Latin verses^ about the swallowing up of the children,
that had a prose version* underneath. These things are
attributed to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. I cannot
help the vagueness, though I regret it. The Passionate
belonged to the Minster, and the entries were copied from
it by Pastor Herr (who died 1753) into one of the two
books of miscellaneous matter about Hameln, which it was
his pleasure to collect.

Among municipal archives, it is likely that Wier saw,
because from their very raison d'etre they were just what
he would seek to see, the Brade and the Donat, the former

1 P. 208.

2 Die liistoriscfie Kern^ pp. 7, 8.

^ " Post duo C. C. mille post octoginta quaterve
— Annus hie est ille, quo languet sexus uterque —
Orbantis pueros centumque triginta Joannis
Et Pauli caros Hamelenses non sine damnis,
Fatur, ut omnes eos vivos Calvaria sorpsit,
Christi tuere reos, ne tarn mala res quibus obsit."

* " Anno millesimo ducentesimo octuagesimo quarto in die Johannis
et Pauli perdiderunt Hamelenses centum et triginta pueros, qui
intraverunt montem Calvariam."

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 243

a book of historical documents, the latter the Codex
Statutoruni. Now it is important to note that he went
away satisfied with the evidence set before him in 1567,
because, eighteen years later, Franz Mliller copied the
Brade into a new book, and the old one, that inspected
by Wier, which dated from 1350, and contained memo-
randa relating to yet earlier times, disappeared, as Hameln
things have a trick of doing. The Dotiat, also held to be
a transcript of one gone before, begins with the thirteenth
century. Good Pastor Herr made a translation of it in
the eighteenth, but that, de more, has vanished. In the
Donat we have examples of dates being accompanied by
a reference to the " Outgoing", and perhaps these may be
the instances which impressed themselves on Wier. It
so, the fact must be regretted, for they have been
denounced as interpolations and forgeries by competent
judges.^ The handwriting of the entries and of the
memorial date are said to differ, and that of the latter
to be of the sixteenth century. The Brade does contain a
paragraph anent the children, and that, for many reasons,
it is important I should quote. It may be Englished
thus : " In the year 1284, on the day of John and Paul, on
the 26th day of the month of June, 130 children, born
in Hameln, were brought out of the town by a piper,,
dressed in many colours, led through the Osterthor to the
Koppen by Calvary, and lost." To this effect are all the
inscriptions I have ever seen, or ever read of anybody else
seeing in " Hamelin Town" itself, always excepting the
verses in the Passionate which run " omnes eos vivos
Calvaria sorpsif , that may be the result of poetical
licence ; the sober prose gloss attached to them does not
venture beyond " qui intraverunt montem Calvariuvi\

But what of the rats ? Yes, what of the rats ? When
did they creep into the story t I believe our friend W^ier
was the first to assert in print that the Piper was actuated

1 Herr Sebastian Spilker, Junior Councillor of Hameln (1654 ?)
and Dr. Meinardus in our own time.

R 2

'244 T^'^^ Pied Piper oj Hamelin.

by anger against the town-council for its repudiation of
his claim as vermin-destroyer. He said it before he went
to Hameln, in the third edition of De Prcestigus, and after
his return he repeated it, in the fourth. Now he would
scarcely have done that if his version had been at variance
with that current at head-quarters. That he, or we, should
find the tale of civic chicanery set forth in municipal
records, and engraven on public buildings, would be to
expect too much of human nature. But Wier said the
Piper was hired to entice away glires, dormice ; and
Kirchner of Fulda — he wrote^ in 1650 — spoke of the folk
being plagued by mice and shrew-mice {jiiuriuin soricuntgue
agmtnibus), but in the meantime, 1588, Pomarius had
introduced his readers to die grosse Ratzen, which infest
most modern accounts of the comedy that had such tragic
close.

The question as to the kind of rodent that raged at
Hameln is one of much interest, though I must not do
more than glance at it. Rats are rare in folk-tales, I
believe, and even when there, have often been evolved out
of original mice. Gubernatis has bare mention of them
in his Zoological Mythology. Naturalists have taught that
vius rattus, the black rat, found its way to Europe only
about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and that the
brown, vi. decuvianiis, did not reach the western countries
of the Continent until the middle of the eighteenth.
How did either contrive to swarm at Hameln some
hundreds of years before it got there? This is really the
most incredible part of our story ! Is Science at fault, and
IS Literature keener at smelling a rat than she } Mo-
hammed Tabari- says that the voyagers in the Ark were
put to straits by rats, so Noah passed his hand down the
back of the lion, who sneezed, and the cat, which did not
exist before then, leaped out of its nose, and went for the

^ Quoted by Schoock.

2 The authority referred to by Baring-Gould, who gives the story in
Legends of Old Testament Characters^ vol. i, p. 113.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. 245

rats — but perhaps we have hardly time to go back as far as
the Deluge. It may suffice to remind the reader of what a
friend^ has pointed out to me, that, in the eleventh century,
Norman inures et rati annoyed the blessed Lanfranc,^
who on one occasion conveyed a demonstrative cat in a
bag ad cojuprimendum fiiroruni illoruni ; whilst in the
twelfth century, Giraldus Cambrensis^ twice mentions.
iniwes viaj'ores, qui vulgariter rati vocantur. Thirteen
hundred and sixty-two gave us that notable passage in
the prologue of Piers the Ploivrnan^ touching the project
of belling the cat, where we have

" a route
Of rn tones at ones
And smale mys mid hem";

and it is plain that the distinction between the two is more
than one of size or age, because a wise mouse stands forth
and contrasts the habits of himself and his brethren, the
masses, with those of the burgher-like rats. It is un-
necessary to construct a catena of authors from Langland's
time to Shakespeare's, in order to prove that rats were
perfectly familiar then, instead of being as strange as bandi-
coots would now be in London backyards and basements.
So, in spite of the naturalists, I think there might well
be rats in Hameln in 1284, and, indeed, the memorable
swarm may actually mark the epoch of their first appearance
there. We do not wonder that the civic fathers were
disturbed, and that somebody was ready to help them out
of the difficulty ; the trial to faith comes in when we hear
how he set about it and succeeded. For myself, I frankly
confess that I do not regard the performance of the " Pied

1 This was the late E. A. Freeman, D.C.L., etc., who died the week
after this paper was read.

- Lanfranci Vita, cap. II in Opera, ed, D'Achery, 1648.

3 Topographia Hibernica, Dist. II, Cap. xxxii ; Iiine7-arium
KaKibricE, Lib. 11, Cap. ii. Welshmen nowadays call rats French
mice, and so do the folk of Connemara.

* Lines 146-207.

246 The Pied Piper of Ha7nelin.

Piper" as being indubitably " a fond thing vainly invented";
I want more proof that it is so than the poor thing,
popular belief. When I was young, oil and troubled water
were associated only in a figure of speech, supposed to be
born of the ignorance and poetical exuberance of the
ancients ; whereas now the rule of oil over the waves is
considered less questionable than that of Britannia.
Multa renascentur. That the lower animals are affected
by musical sounds has been known for centuries ; and rats,
from what one reads of the rhyming^ of the Irish contin-
gent, and of the survival of poetical conjurations in France
and elsewhere,^ may be specially susceptible to the influence
of the Muses ; if we did but know the Piper's tune, it
may be fin-de-siede rats would rush forth with the same
mad eagerness as those of old. The very strain it ought
to be : " open Barley" had a goodly sound, but it served
not Cassim's turn when he failed to think of "open
Sesame".

Our Hameln artist does not stand alone. Once upon a
time the district about Lorch^ was delivered from ants,
crickets, and rats by three pipers, who being defrauded of
the guerdon, played off pigs, sheep, and little ones respec-
tively; and in 1240 a Capuchin named Angionini* lured
into the river all kinds of domestic animals and stock at
Draucy-les-Nouis near Paris, because the villagers refused
him the reward for freeing them of rats and mice by
means of a small book and a little demon. Other cases
might be found for the comfort of those who, instead of
agreeing that recurrence of an alleged experience goes to
confirm the reality of it, regard multiplication of examples
as tending to the discredit of them all. It is only when

1 As You Like It, Act iii, Sc. 2, 188; (9/ /'^^//j, Temple's Miscellanea^
P. ii, p. 244.

"^ Rolland, Faune Populaire : Les Mammifcres Sauvages, pp. 24-7.

^ Cited in Curious Myths, pp. 422, 432, from Wolf's Beitrage zur
dcutschen Mythologie, i, 171.

^ Sprenger, p. 16, from Le Corsaire, of December 1824.

The Pied Piper of Hamehn. 247

such students have collected half-a-dozen " variants"
that they feel their incredulity justifiable, range their
treasure in a " cycle", and account their attitude as being
truly scientific !

If what is told of more than one place, cannot be told
with truth of any, and what has never happened in our
time never happened at all, the exodus of the Hameln
innocents is in " a parlous state". We have just glanced
at the musical kidnapping of LorclV and Baring-Gould
also reports how Brandenburg was once visited by a man
who went fiddling through the streets till he had a troop of
little listeners whom he wiled to the Marienberg, which
opened to enclose both him and them. Nearer home,
according to Dr. Kirkpatrick in The Sea Piece, a narrative,
philosophical, and descriptive poem published in 1750, a
like tradition is attached to Cave Hill near Bel fast,^ though
I believe the memory of it is now grown dim.

1 Curious Myths, p. 422.

2 " Here, as Tradition's hoary Legend tells,

A blinking Piper once with magic Spells

And Strains beyond a vulgar Bagpipe's sound,

Gathered the dancing Country wide around ;

When hither as he drew the tripping Rear

(Dreadful to think and difficult to swear !)

The gaping Mountain yawn'd from side to side,

A hideous Cavern, darksome, deep, and wide ;

In skipt th' exulting Demon, piping loud.

With passivejoy succeeded by the Croud ;

The winding Cavern, trembling, as he play'd,

With dreadful Echoes rung throughout its Shade;

There firm and instant clos'd the greedy Womb,

Where wide-born Thousands met a common Tomb.

Ev'n now the good Inhabitant relates

With serious Horror their disastrous Fates ;

And as the noted Spot he ventures near,

His Fancy, strung with Tales and shook with Fear,

Sounds magic Concerts in his tingling Ear ;

With superstitious Awe and solemn Face,

Trembling he points, and thinks he points the Place."

248 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

" A blinking Piper once with magic Spells
And Strains beyond a vulgar Bagpipe's Sound,
Gathered the dancing Country wide around,"

and led the way into the gaping, yawning mountain, which
in due course

" closed the greedy Womb,
Where wide-born Thousands met a common Tomb."

Now the veracity of this tale, and of the rest, is not at
present my affair ; I must mention them lest I should be
accused of keeping, what some may consider damaging
facts, in the background ; but it is my claim for the Hameln
story, of which we have many data, wanting to the others,
that it stands alone, and should be judged apart from them.
There was nothing supernatural, believe me, in the leading
away of the children, indeed nothing, putting scale out of
the question, that was not commonplace. Imps continue
to rush after men, of whom the Pied One is a type ; and,
when they do not come to grief, let the praise belong to
the piper. If it be not a thing incredible that in 121 1 "a
multitude amounting as some say to 90,000 chiefly com-
posed of children" [" for the most part from Germany"]
"and commanded by a child, set out for the purpose of
recovering the Holy Land",^ we may surely swallow the
assertion that 130 young Hamelners ran away after an
attractive gaily-garbed musician in 1284. Though mediaeval
chorea was promoted by fifing and red colours,'^ it is not
necessary to believe with Meinardus^ that they were
affected by dancing-mania like the 100 children of Erfurt,*
who in 1237 skipped and jumped along the road until they
came to Arnstadt, where they fell to the ground in utter
exhaustion. Neither do I think the wild rites of Mid-

1 Hallam's Sfa/e of Europe in the Middle Ages^ vol. ii, p. 359, note.
- Hecker's Epidemics of the Middle Ages, Part ii, pp. 8, 49.
^ Die historische Kern, p. 30, etc. I believe Schoock was the first
to suggest this.
* Hecker, p. 27.

The Pied Piper of Hmnelin. 249

summer, or S. John Baptist's, Eve should bear the blame,
as three nights had passed between them and the fresh
morn of the festival of S. John and S. Paul — Roman
brothers, and Martyrs— when the Piper piped his summons,
and the joy of many households sped away. Nothing
more than childish curiosity and excitement, freedom from
suspicion, carelessness of consequences, was wanted to
produce the effect. Very ordinary causes brought about
a kind of Kinderausgang'va London in 1643 ; it led HowelF
the traveller and letter-writer to relate the Hameln story
to his correspondent. He prefaces it thus : " I saw such
prodigious things daily done these few Years past, that I
had resolved with myself to give over wondering at any-
thing, yet a passage happened this Week that forced me
to wonder once more, because it is without parallel. It
was that some odd Fellows went skulking up and down
London Streets, and with Figs and Raisins allured little
Children, and so purloined them away from their Parents
and carried them a Ship-board far beyond the Sea, where,
by cutting their Hair, and other Devices, they so disguised
them that their own Parents could not know them." Given
another h^<t, and a chronicler of different temperament,
and these embodiments of diabolic craft had, like the Pied
Piper, painted a moral and adorned a tale, as Diabolus
himself

Do I presume too much in hoping that, thus far, you are
all with me ? I expect to be asked with some sign of
sarcasm whether the going into the Koppen is also to be
regarded as a natural occurrence. Certainly not, if into
must needs imply subterranean entry ; but I take it in the
sense in which it is familiar to us in the New Testament
and out of it, when " into a mountain" denotes no more
than exterior or superficial access, and I stagger not. Love
of the marvellous and misapprehension were parents of the
fancy that Bunting and his audience were actually absorbed

1 Epistolce Ho.—Eliancc,V>. i, Sect. 6, Letter XLIX, dated Fleet, i Oct.
1643.

250 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

by the hill, and it was probably fostered by the misreading
of Calvaria, a praying-station, as cavaria, a hollow place
or cave, of which I saw an instance during the preparation
of this paper. The historical nursemaid, who beheld things
from afar, must be answerable for something — " I know
that girl, she comes fra' Sheffield" — whilst the blind boy
and the mute would add their quota to the wonder.

Whither Piper and children went, when they vanished
from sight of the two watchers, into the Koppenberg, it is
at this time impossible to determine. The leader gained
a start, gained it in a day when electricity could not head
a fugitive, and had everything but the number of the
convoy in his favour. It is as likely as not that the wily
fellow doubled as soon as the lie of the land furthered his
purpose, came down to the river and, by pre-arrangement,
was able to use it as a silent highway, on which the child-
ren passed easily with the current to some district beyond
the hue and cry. Once at Bremen there were, what
Samuel Johnson might call " potentialities" of evasion, on
which I need not dwell.

In 1650, Kirchner, a Jesuit, stated on the alleged autho-
rity of a Transylvanian chronicle^ that the folk of Sieben-
burge came of the kidnapped Hamelners, and spoke their
tongue. The theory had been referred to by Verstegan
nearly half a century before Kirchner's Musurgia Univer-
salis appeared, but he discredited it, attributed the likeness
of language to Saxon colonisation of Transylvania by
Charles the Great, and seems to have known nothing of
the chronicler relied on by the later writer. " Some doe
report", says Verstegan,- "that there are divers found
among the Saxons in Transilvania that have the like
surnames unto the Burgers of Hamel, and will thereby
seem to infer that this jugler or pied piper might by negro-
mancy have transported them thither ; but this carrieth

^ I gather this from an abstract of Fabula Hamelensis.
^ I copy from the edition of 1634, but the passage also occurs (I am
told) in that of 1605.

The Pied Piper of H ante tin. 251

but little appearance of truth, because it would have been
almost as great a wonder unto the Saxons of Transilvania
to have had so many strange children brought among
them they knew not how, as it were to those of Hamel to
lose them ; and they could not but have kept memory of
so strange a thing, if indeed any such thing had there
hapened."

It is not unlikely, I think, that some relic, real or sup-
posed, of the children found in Siebenberge in the Hameln
district may have given colour to the belief that they had
been traced to Siebenbiirge in Transylvania. So a certain
correspondence led Schoock to imagine that he had found
the epitaph of the Pied Piper in S. Laurence's, Padua.
The memorial had been erected by the German nation,
and the subject of it, a Transylvanian named Valentine
Graeirus or Bacfort, had died at the age of forty-nine in
1524; but as his "rare skill in pipe-playing" had led to
his being "admired as another Orpheus", no one could
doubt — so thought Schoock — that he was the performer
usually credited to 1284!

After all this, is it not somewhat startling to learn, from
Mrs. Gerard's Land beyond the Forest} that the story of the
juvenile immigrants is still credited in Transylvania? The
journey is said to have been performed through subter-
ranean passages, and the Almesche Hohle, in the north-
east of the country, is pointed out as being the place where
the travellers reissued to the light of day. At the village
of Nadesch^ the arrival of the German ancestors is annually
commemorated, but I do not feel sure that they are sup-
posed to have come from Hameln, though Mrs. Gerard
so expresses herself that I think it not unlikely such may
be the case. On a particular day all the lads dress up as
pilgrims and assemble round a flag. Headed by an old
man, they go about the streets in procession singing psalms,
stopping to dance and to refresh themselves at intervals.
When questioned, they say, "Thus came our forefathers,
1 Vol. i, pp. 52, 54. i" P. 51.

252 The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

free people like ourselves, from Saxonia into this land,
behind the flag and drum and with staffs in their hands.
And because we have not invented this custom, neither did
our ancestors invent it, but have transmitted it from gene-
ration to generation, so do we, too, desire to hand it down
to our children and grandchildren."

One word in conclusion : I have made great inroad on
the reader's patience, though I have by no means exhausted
my subject, and humbly apologise for being as long-winded
as the Piper, without, at the same time, being able to exercise
a corresponding charm.

Eliza Gutch.

''FIRST-FOOT'' IN THE BRITISH
ISLES.

IN his paper on Manx Folk-lore {supra, pp. 74-91), Pro-
fessor Rhys drew attention to the importance attached to
the sex orcomplexion of the first person who enters the house
on New Year's Day. In Man, objection is made to a woman
or fair man being the first to enter on that day. Con-
siderable interest was shown in the subject by the speakers
on Prof Rhys's paper, and a certain amount of evidence
was forthcoming, showing that a like superstition existed
in many places in the British Isles. An appeal was
accordingly made in the last number of FOLK-LORE
for information on the subject from its readers. The
Editor cannot report that he has been overwhelmed
with correspondence on the subject, and some of the letters
dealt with superstitions somewhat different from the " first-
foot"— e.g., the custom of giving a handsel to the first
person met with on the way to a christening ; the habit
of bringing fresh water into the house on New Year's
Day, etc.

Sufficient material has been sent in, however, to make
the subject both more important and, at the same time,
more precise. Reserving some of the communications for
more detailed notice later, we may summarise the informa-
tion given in the following table, in which the kind of person
preferred to enter a house as first-foot on New Year's Day
has been classified. In the few instances no preference
is expressed, but only the person to be avoided : a
short line is put where no information is given. It is
possible, too, that in many of the cases referred to
there was some preference for either sex, though only
complexion is mentioned. Our table gives, we believe,
all the pertinent information in the communications sent.

254

''First-Foot in the British Isles.

Locality and

Complexion,

Period, if other
than present

etc., of Person
preferred as

Se.x and Age

Reference.

Authority.

Remarks.

day.

" First- Foot".

Malvern, 1S77. .

-

Boy

Mrs. Gutch

Letter from
friend.

Northallerton . .

Man

Master of the house
used to go out few
minutes before,,
and re-enter few-
minutes after
midnight on Dec.
31st.

Lancashire

Dark

Boy ^

Worcester and

Boy

_

Chimneys used to-

Herefordshire.

be swept New
Year's Day for
this purpose.

Cornwall . . . .

Boy

>

Mrs. Gutch

Standard, ist
Jan. 1879.

Used to sand door-
step and passage
" for luck".

Preston .. ..

Fair

—

Blackburn

Dark

-

Midland

Dark

A widower ob-

Counties.

jected to.

W. England . .

—

Unusual name ob-
jected to, as it
prefigured the
husband's name.

Yorkshire . . . .

Dark

-

( Mrs. Gutch
( E. Clodd

Morris, Voj-ks.

Folk- talk,

2i8-iq.

M

Fair

-

( Mrs. Gutch
\ E. Clodd

-

In other districts

Isle of Man ..

Dark

—

E. Clodd

Moore, Folk-
lore Isle 0/
Man, 102-3.

E . Yorkshire . .

Dark

Man

"

Nicholson, F.
L. East
Yorks., 20.

Called "lucky
bird".

Bradwell . . . .

Light-haired

Man

Miss Broad-

Letter from

Red-haired man,.

(Northumb.)

and
flat-footed.

wood.

Miss Craster.

or one with eye-
brows joined, ob-
jected to.

N. England . .

Man

C. J. Clark

Letter from
Mrs.Lawrence
Archer.

Women cannot get
out a house till a
man has come in
on New Year's
Day.

Aldeburgh

—

Man

E. Clodd

—

(Suffolk)

Carnarvon

Dark

Man

T.W. E. Higgens

-

Leuchars, Fife

Red hair and

W. Anderson

Letterto W. A.

See Letter, p. 256.

Jlat foot

(Leuchars)

Craigie,

avoided.

Merton Coll.,
Oxford.

Forfarshire

-

Women not
objected to.

"

'•

Athlone, 1854 ..

—

Young

Rev. J. Ed-

Letter to Prof.

women (?)

mington.

Rhys.

Craven, Yorks..

Fair

Man.

Mrs. F. L.
Nicholson

Information

from

Mrs. Slingsby.

^' Fii'st-Foof in the British Isles. 2^^

It is obvious from all this that more information, and
that more definite, is required before coming to any con-
clusion on the main question raised, whether the " first-
foot" superstition is a survival of race hatred, or contempt
for the fairer sex. Especially it is necessary to have
more direct information derived from persons who can
be further questioned, rather than from books, which
probably tell all their authors know. The Editor of FOLK-
LORE will, therefore, be glad to receive answers to the
following series of questions about the " First-Foot" :

1. Is any belief or custom associated with the first

person who enters the house on New Year's Day
(or any other specific day) } [Call such person
First-Foot^^

2. Should the first-foot be man or woman ?

3. Should the first-foot be dark or fair }

4. Is a red-haired first-foot considered very unlucky .''

5. Is a flat-footed first-foot considered unlucky }

6. Must the first-foot bring any gift into the house?

7. What kind of things must be brought into the house

on New Year's Day .''

8. Must something be brought in on New Year's Day

before anything can be carried out .''

Answers to these questions, giving name and address of
informant, should be sent to the Editor, at the office of
Folk- Lore, 270, Strand, before Aug. i, marked First- Fool
on the envelope.

Meanwhile we may proceed to print two papers on the
subject that deal with it at some length ; one by Prof.
Rhys, who started the inquiry, and has collected further
information about it, and the other an ingenious sugges-
tion as to the origin of the custom, which was read before
the Folk-lore Society.

:;6 ''First-Foof in the British Isles.

Notes on the First-Foot and Allied
Superstitions.

It gives me great pleasure to be able to respond to the
Editor's appeal by presenting for publication in FOLK-
LORE the following contributions which I have received
from friends of mine interested in the question of the " first-
foot". I may mention first a friend of Mr. Craigie's, of Oriel
College here, who writes to him from his native neighbour-
hood of Leuchars as follows :

" In Fife, we object to red hair and flat feet, but not to women,
so far as I know. Carrying in a knife or a pointed tool is very
bad, and, of course, borrowing or lending on that day is impos-
sible. To give fire out of the house would be disastrous. I
shall make further inquiries, but our custom is to carry in food
and drink when first-footing. Empty hands are doubly disas-
trous."— W. Anderson.

There is no objection to a woman as a first-foot, Mr.
Craigie tells me, in Forfarshire ; he has heard women saying
to their neighbours, " Fll come and first-foot you ; mind
you, I have a lucky foot." The favourite thing to take is
a red herring, but it is somewhat regarded as a joke, and
if you arrive before the family is up, which is very probable,
as the first-foot sets out usually soon after twelve, you may
tie the red herring to the door-handle. The first-foot is
not unfrequently trysted, in other words, arranged for
beforehand. The usual thing in the town of Dundee is
for the first-foots to muster in the High Street, which they
do in such numbers that the place is crowded. When it
strikes twelve, they skail in all directions, and there is a
special tramcar to take some of them to Lochee, a suburb
about two miles off, the idea being that it is the right thing
to await the new year in the High Street.

Handsel Monday, i.e., first Monday after New Year's
Day, or that day itself (in case it be Monday), is the day
for making presents. Christmas Day was formerly of no

First-Foof in the British Isles. 257

account in Forfarshire, but Mr. Craigie has heard of the
Aberdeenshire people keeping " Yeel", i.e., Yule, on Jan. 5,
or Christmas Day, Old Style, which he puts down to a
probable Norse element in the population.

The Gaelic festival in Dundee is always held on Jan. 12,
if possible (for they try to have it on a Friday^: this means
Jan. I, Old Style. Mr. Craigie, however, wrote^to me next
day to modify this, in the following terms, and the correc-
tion is very instructive as to the struggle going on, so to say,
between the old Celtic year and the Roman calendar :

" I remembered yesterday that I had made a slight mistake in
what I had said about the Gaelic Festival in Dundee. The
regular meeting was, and is, held on or near Nov. 12 {i.e.,
Oidhche Samhna, Old Style), and the one on Jan. 12 or so was
an extra one, which has been given up for some time now. The
' Hallow-E'en' one still goes on.

" We, of course, call the day before the New Year, Hogmanay
(in Gaelic, Oidhche Callain). The old New Year's Day is pretty
well given up in the Lowlands now.

" In a number of The Gael (a magazine which came out from
1871-77) there was a list of the different seasons of the year
according to the Celtic calendar, with the places of all the chief
days, like Beltane, Samhuinn, etc., given." — W. A. Craigie.

The next communication (dated March 29, 1892) is from
the Rev. John M. Gillington, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight :

" My acquaintance with the custom is on this wise :— When I
was assistant-curate of St. Peter's, Athlone, the ist Royal
Regiment was in barracks there. This regiment was originally
the Royal Scots Guards, the body-guard of the Scottish kings.
They came to London with James VI, when he became King of
England, Eventually they became the ist Regiment of Foot in
the Standing Army.

"When they ceased to be formed of Scotchmen, I have no
idea, but when I knew them they had nothing Scotch about
them except the regimental traditions. These are kept up, and
amongst them the custom of first-foot. I lodged in the house of
a widow of a sergeant-major of that corps. He had served with

VOL. III. s

258 ''First-Foot'' in the British Isles.

it at Waterloo, and she had told me of the traditions among
them.

"On the last night of 1854, I was sitting up till midnight,
reading, when, just as the clock struck twelve, I was startled by
an uproar breaking out in the neighbouring barracks, shouts, and
beating of drums. I thought a fire had broken out, and threw
open the window ; but I then perceived that the shouts were of
hilarity, and mixed with laughter, while the band was playing a
lively tune up and down the barrack-square.

" While I was wondering what all this could mean, my room-
door opened, and two of the girls of the house came in with cake
and wine, exclaiming that they were first-foot in my quarters.
Then it all came back to my mind what their mother had told
me — how that everybody rushed into everybody's house or room,
bearing cake, wine, or whiskey, each striving to be first-foot, first
in the house or quarters on New Year's Day. All together
uproariously partook of the refreshments brought in. Some
people were reckoned to bring good luck to the house for the
rest of the year ; some were accredited with being unlucky first-
foots. This was the custom as kept up by tradition in the ist
Royals, which had been Scotch 250 years before.

" Afterwards I heard of it amongst Scotch people of a higher
grade, who observed it, but with more decorum and propriety,
perhaps. They told me that they knew well-educated people who
looked out anxiously as to who should be first-foot in their house,
and would turn pale if a person whose luck was doubtful should
be the first to come in."

My next correspondent is Mr. Tierney, of the Welsh-
man Office, Carmarthen, who writes as follows :

"I see that you have been speaking of a Manx prejudice
against_/?a/ feet. I expect that must be a strong prejudice in the
really Irish parts of Ireland, for, in the most Anglicised part of
Ulster, where my boyhood was spent, no 'clane' peasant-girl
with her wits about her would dream of marrying a flat-footed
' boy', unless there were very strong temptations to do so. Not
only flat feet, but anything like bandy legs, would deter a girl from
marrying a man.

"When two young fellows are rivals for the hand of one of

'' First-Foof in the British Isles, 259

these fair damsels, the one who can speak of the other as ' that
flat-footed craythur' is pretty sure to win, although the flat-footed
man may have three acres and a cow, and the other ' nothing
but the rags on his back'. So strong is the feeling, and so deep
is the impression made by this prejudice, that, although I have
not been a fortnight in Ireland for the past twenty years or
nearly, I can hardly help nmv feeling, when people look down-
wards to where I stand, that they are inspecting my feet. You
see I am, for the most part, of Teutonic descent, and, I sup-
pose, a tendency to flat-footedness is one of the results of that
misfortune.^

" Another is that I have reddish hair, and that was another
cause of heart-burning. The red-haired people, even in Ulster
(it may be worse elsewhere, but I don't know — yes, I know it
is worse in Connaught, where they are savagely disliked), are all
" Danes" or foreigners of some kind, who can never, somehow,
come to be liked in a brotherly way, or altogether trusted. I
inherit my ruddy locks from a Carkton family ; though many
Welsh people, when told where I was born, suppose it to be a
mark of Gwyddel blood. Even if it were, it would be just as
bad in Ireland as if it were Saxon or Norman. Red-haired men
are bad, but to meet a red-haired woman as you go out on any
important journey, is such a terrible omen — or was in some
parishes in my boyhood — that the man who will not turn back
home again, must have nerve enough to face the devil.

" This mention of the Gwyddel reminds me that, although the
Welsh make the term synonymous with ' Irish', the Goidels can
never have been numerous in Ireland — or, if they were, the
conquering race has grown very scarce — almost died out. Is it
not held that the genuine Cymry, although they gave Wales their
language, and taught the original dolichocephalic people to call
themselves Cymry too, were but a hardy /^?f^.? I do not know
enough of these things to be sure whether you are one of those
who hold the Cymry to be scarce in Cymru at the present day.

1 Mr. Tierney is joking : since this letter was written I have had
the pleasure of meeting him, but I do not recollect staring at his
" understandings". I conclude that there is nothing peculiar about
them.

S 3

26o "■ First -FooV in the British Isles.

"I have a theory — perhaps others have it without my knowledge,
and perhaps it may seem utterly foolish to you, but I assure you
I could write a whole volume in support of it— that whether the
Gwyddyl were numerous in Ireland, and the Cymry in Wales, or
not, it would not have altered matters very much ; that they are,
more or less, like the Teutons, an artificial race, which can only
be kept up to the proper level of existence by favourable circum-
stances and surroundings ; that the Httle old dark race have, like
the Welsh black cattle, reached the degree of development which
Nature, under ordinary conditions, will tolerate ; that they have
already nearly stamped the Gwyddyl out in Ireland, and the Cymry
in Wales, and that they will in time clear the Teutons out as well,
becoming once more full possessors of Britain."

To begin at the end of the foregoing letter, I may observe
that the writer is by no means alone in his idea, that the
purer Aryan element in Celtic countries is decreasing
numerically, Penka for instance, gives his readers reasons
for believing that the tall, blond, blue-eyed Aryan has lost
ground since the early Middle Ages in North Italy, in
France, and one might probably add Spain ; but I am
only reproducing Penka's views very roughly, as it is some
time since I read them. I shall, however, not be misrepre-
senting him, when I say that he regards the Aryans as a
northern people who in the long run have no chance in the
competition for existence in certain tracts of Europe, as
against the smaller and duskier aborigines, with thousands
of years more of acclimatisation to the credit of their
race. I have been for some time of opinion that in the
population of Wales we have, at the present day, but a
very small Aryan element. Our Aryans in the Principality
were very lively in the time of Sir John Wynn of Gwydyr :
one of their amusements appears to have been to burn one
another's houses about their owners' ears ; but they fared
badly in the days of Cromwell, and ever since they seem
to have been dwindling in numbers and importance in
proportion to the representatives of the aboriginal race. I
picture to myself the Welsh Aryan as a fine tall fellow

''First-Foot''' in the British Isles. 261

with a somewhat aquiline nose, and a complexion rather
less blond than I should expect in the case of a Teutonic
Aryan. He has a landed estate or traditions about one
that ought to be his, and he boasts a long pedigree.

This talk of mine about races threatens to put wholly-
cut of sight the question a propos of which it began,
namely, that of the superstition about flat feet. So I return
to the Manx qualtagh, and my suggestion of his being to
some extent a race representative, and I may mention that,
one day last term, I read my remarks on the difference
between Welsh and English feet, as shown in the matter of
shoes, at a meeting of about a dozen Welsh undergraduates.
They all agreed with me that English shoes did not, as a
rule, fit Welsh feet, and this because they are made too low
in the instep : I ought to have said that they all agreed
except one undergraduate, who held his peace. He is a tall
man of no dark complexion, and I have never dared to
look in the direction of his feet since, lest he should detect
me cruelly carrying my comparisons to extremes. In the
Manx paper referred to, I suggested that perhaps the flatness
of the feet of the one race was not to be emphasized so much
as the height of the instep in those of the other. I find
this way of looking at the question somewhat countenanced
in an appreciative article which appeared on the 29th
March in the Liverpool Post, in reference to my remarks
and the discussion elicited by them. The writer refers to
Henderson's notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,
and quotes a passage referring more particularly to Northum-
berland, as follows : "In some districts, however, special
weight is attached to the ' first-foot' being that of a person
with a high-arched instep, a foot that ' water runs under'.
A flat-footed person would bring great ill-luck for the
coming year." Before leaving this, there is another point I
wish to mention : the writer of the article considers that
Dr. Karl Blind's experience as a South German, that an
English shoemaker does not make his shoes high enough
in the instep, and his admission that North Germans "have,

262 "• First-Foof in the British Isles.

perhaps, slightly flatter feet" than those of the South, spoils
my suggestion as to race. This struck me as rather strange,
as I flattered myself that Dr. Blind's words were entirely on
my side. The explanation is that 1 took for granted that
nobody now regards the bulk of the South Germans as of
the same race as the tall, light-haired people of North
Germany, or the Teutonic element of a somewhat similar
type in this country. If, therefore. Dr. Blind's words have
been accurately reported, I claim the benefit of them for
my suggestion as to a race-distinction underlying the Manx
superstition concerning the qualtagJi ; but as to that sugges-
tion itself, I must confess that I attach but little importance
to it. It is gratifying to me, however, that it is likely to
lead to an exhaustive discussion of the subject on the basis
of an ampler collection of facts.

John Rhys.

Oxford^ April i8th, 1892.

Notes on the First-Foot Superstition.

It has generally been considered that the first-foot
superstition originated in the warfare of races, and that
race is the distinctive feature. May it not be sex?

There are no superstitions apart from this one which
imply that it is unlucky to meet an enemy on New Year's
Day. There are superstitious reasons why a ivoman should
not be met.

We should not dissociate this superstition from others
connected with New Year's Day.

We find that a great many customs and superstitions
connected with New Year's Day are also observed on May
Day.— A.

The ceremiony of the Claivie-burning (FoLK-LORE, 1891,
p. 19) belongs to a cycle of superstitious customs common
to both days.— A. B.

Some of the details of these ceremonies find parallels in

'' First-Foof' in the British Isles. 26

o

a Kolarian festival, to propitiate the Rain goddess {Priuii-
tive Folk, p. 332). — C. B.

The Kolarian festival contains a trace of the Godi\a
ceremony. — C.

The Roumanians observe the ceremony in time of
drought {Nineteenth Century, July 1885). — C. D.

In Pembrokeshire, people sprinkle each other on New
Year's Day ; and in Siam there is a " Water Feast" on
New Year's Day, when people drench each other {Church
Times, ] din. 15, 1892). — C.

In India, in time of drought, women have been known
to strip themselves, and men have been kept out of the
way, in case they brought trouble on the village by prying
{Science of Fairy Tales, p. 84). — D.

The Western Innoits, and also the Apache Indians,
celebrate a hunting-festival on New Year's Day. The
sexes are separated, and curiosity by the opposite sex is
punishable by death {Primitive i^c/,^, pp. 92 and 138). —
D. E.

The presence of women at these festivals would destroy
the efficacy of the rites (FOLK-LoRE, 1 891, pp. 426 and 439).
— D. E.

In the Isle of Lewis (Scotland), a woman was not per-
mitted to cross the river until a man had crossed, or she
would frighten away the fish. — E.

The evidence seems to point in the following directions,
viz. :

A. The overlapping of the folk-lore of New Year's
Day and May Day seems to show that the latter day was
once the commencement of the New Year.

B. The survival of similar sacrificial rites on New Year's
Day and May Day seem to show that the New Year was
ushered in by a great festival, to propitiate the goddess of
the Waters.

C. The identity between these survivals and existing
heathen propitiatory sacrifices to the Rain goddess seem

264 '' First-FooC in the British Isles.

to show that the New Year's festival contained similar rites
and sacrifices.

D. The traces in the folk-lore survivals of these cere-
monies, and also in the prevailing heathen rites of a
procession of women in a state of nudity, give evidence
of the separation of sexes at this New Year's festival.

E. The existence of certain New Year's hunting-
festivals, at which the presence of women would reiider
nugatory the efficacy of the rites, and also the fact that
it is considered that men prying at the women's proces-
sions before referred to would bring evil upon the village,
are evidence to show that the presence of the opposite sex
has been considered unlucky on New Year's Day.

T. W. E. HiGGENS.

CORRESPONDENCE.

"THE WIDOW'S SON."

To the Editor of FOLK-LORE.

Sir, — The frequency with which " The Widow's Son"
appears as the hero of folk-tale and folk-song has often
excited remark, and appears to require some explanation.
This may, perhaps, be attempted in a comparison of the
Greek songs and tales dealing with the exploits of this
character.

The Enchanted Deer.
(Passow, No. 576, Greek Foik-sofigs, p. 85.)

In this song a hero named Digenes is represented as possessing
superhuman strength, and as having for his companions the
Drake's son, and Tremantahielos, " who shakes the earth and
kosmos".

The Death of Digenes.
(Jeannaraki, No. 92.)
In this tristich all nature is represented as sympathetically
affected by the death-throes of the hero.

Digenes and his Mother.
(Jeannaraki, No. 276.)
Digenes is here represented as a widow's son, who alone is
valiant enough to accept the challenge of Charon to a wrestling-
match, and who is vanquished only by trickery on the part of his
opponent.

The Widow's Sons.
(Passow, No. 514, Women of Turkey, i, p. 129.)

These two heroes fight with, and slay a monster (Stoicheion)
which has destroyed every champion hardy enough to attack it.

266 Correspondence.

TSAMATHOS AND HIS SON.

(Aravandinos, No. 460.)
A widow's son accepts the challenge of Tsamathbs, a super-
human being who is represented as making the earth to tremble
with his tread, and as bearing on his shoulder an uprooted tree,
from the branches of which dangle wild beasts. The widow's son
prevails against Tsamathbs, who begs him to desist and declare
who are his parents. The youth replies that his mother was a
widow when he was born, but that he resembles his father, and
intends to surpass him in prowess. Tsamathbs goes with him to
the house of the widow, and is by her poisoned at supper.

The Story of the Beardless.
(Yiib-iWrivixa ' A\ia.Xi7ira, A. 10.)
In this story a widow's son, on questioning his mother con-
cerning his father, is sent by her, according to the orders of the
latter, to the distant city of which he is king.

As the name Acyevr)<i signifies "of two races" or "species",
it appears, I venture to think, highly probable that these
stories of " Widows' Sons" may point to some such inter-
course between higher and lower races as that suggested
by Mr. Stuart-Glennie. Another allusion to difference
of race is found in the " Beardless Man" — that is to say, a
man with one of the most distinctive characteristics of
the Mongolian and Negro, as distinguished from the White
Races.

Lucy M. Garnett.

GREEK FOLK-LORE.

To tJie Editor of FoLK-LORE.
Sir, — My attention has just been drawn to Mr. Sidney
Hartland's " Report on Folk-tale Research", in the last
number of FOLK-LoRE, in which he remarks that I have
failed to give the sources of some of the tales contained
in The Women of Turkey. Will you allow^ me to say that

Cor7'espondence. 267

some of the stories were collected by myself, including
that of the pastounnd specially referred to by Mr. Hart-
land, which I heard, with many others, from His Excellency
Zohrah Bey ? A variant of it may also be found in vol.
xxviii of Les Littcratures populaires. The Jewish stories
of which the source is not given are from Frankl's Jeivs in
the East, the references to which were, by some oversight,
omitted. Two of them, however, " Oslemedai and King
Solomon" and " Rabbi Ahiba", are, I believe, to be found

in the Talmud.

L. M. Garnett.

ETHNOLOGISTS v. ANTHROPOLOGISTS.
To the Editor of FOLK-LORE.

Sir, — I trust that I may be allowed to say — and with
reference more particularly to p. 121 of Mr. Sidney Hart-
land's interesting " Report on Folk-tale Research" — that I
think our terminology would be greatly improved if those
Anthropologists who make much of the fact of the hetero-
geneity of human races were, as Ethnologists, distinguished
from those who, like, for instance, Dr. Tylor, expressly
ignore that fact, or deny its importance.

J. S. Stuart-Glennie.

BRANCHOS.

To the Editor of FoLK-LORE.

Sir, — Perhaps the following parallel may interest )'Our
readers. I do not think it has been previously pointed
out: — Conon (in Photius, Bibliothcca, § 33, p. 136 — ed.
Bekker, 1824) : co? o S/xiKfio^ tivo<; tmv ivMiXrjaioL^ ivSo^cov
dvyarepa <ya[xel, koI av77] TLKrovaa opa oyjnv, rov i]\.lov avrfj
Sta rov aTOfxaro^ elahvvra 8ia t?}? <yaaTp6<i Kal tcop aLOOiwv
BiG^eXdetv Kol rjv to 6pa/xa rot? fxavrecrLP dyadov kui. ereKe

268 Co7'7'espondence,

Kopov, Updy-^^ov airo rov ovelpov KoXeaaaa, ore 6 i^Xwi avrrj^
hia Tou (Spcuyy^ov Si6^f]\6€.

I have found a close parallel to this in a note of Liebrecht's
(Gervasius von Tilbury, ed. F. Liebrecht, Hanover, 1856,
p. 72) ; " Mirkond rapporte suivant les traditions des
peuples de la Scythie que cette princesse [namlich Alan-
kava ou Alancova, fille de Gioubine, tils de Bolduz, roi des
Mongols de la dynastie ou famille de Kiot] etant eveillee
dans sa chambre, pendant la nuit, une grande lumiere
I'investit tout d'un coup, lui entra dans le corps par la
bouche. Ce phenomene ayant peu apres disparu, Alancava
se trouva fort surprise de cette apparition: mais elle le
fut encore beaucoup plus, lorsqu'elle s'aper^ut qu'elle etait
grosse, sans qu'elle eut connu aucun homme. Le trouble
que lui causa cet evenement, lui fit aussitot convoquer une
assemblee de ses sujets, qui etaient tous tres persuades de
sa sagesse : cependant comme elle les trouva fort etonnes
de la nouveaute de ce fait, et qu'ils en parlaient diverse-
ment entr'eux, Alankava, pour dissiper tous les soup^ons
que Ton pouvait former contre son honnetete, fit venir les
principaux d'entr'eux et les enfermant dans sa chambre, les
rendit temoins oculaires de ce qui s'y passait toutes les
nuits. . . . Enfin, le terme de cette grossesse etant arrive,
elle accoucha de trois enfants. Le premier fut nomme
Boukoun Cabaki, duquel les Tartares nommes Cabakin
et Kapgiak sont descendus. Le second eut nom Bouskin
Salegi, duquel les Selgiucides ont tire leur origine; et le
troisieme fut appelle Bouzangir, lequel est reconnu pour un
des aieuls de Geughiskan et de Tamerlan." " Khondemir
ajoute a cette narration, que la merveille qui arriva dans la
grossesse d'Alankava, est la meme qui s'est rencontree
dans celle de Miriam, mere d'Issa." — UHerbelot^s. v. Alan-
kava.

The phenomenon is exactly the same in both cases.
Legends of sun-impregnation are well known : it would
be superfluous to give instances. J. G. Frazer, TJie
Golden Bough (1890), ii, 225 ff., gives several examples. He

Co7^7'espondence. 269

connects the taboo laid on girls at puberty, which forbids
them to see the sun, with this belief, and so explains the
myth of Danae, comparing it especially with a parallel in
Siberian legend, given by Radloff, Der ttirk. Stdinme Siid-
Siberiens, iii, 82 sq.

Frazer also cites Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Mdrchen,
No. 28 ; Bastian, Die Volker des ostl. Asien, i, 416; vi, 25 ;
Turner, Samoa, p. 200 ; Panjab Notes and Qturies, ii,
No. 797, for sun-impregnation. Traces of the belief exist
in the ceremonial of marriage (Frazer, /. c.\ in the old
Hindoo marriages, the bride on the previous day was
made to look upon the sun; and among the Turks of
Siberia, in Iran, and Central Asia, the young couple are
led out of their hut on the morning after marriage to greet
the rising sun, whose beams are believed to ensure fer-
tility; quoting Vambery, Das Tiirken Volk, p. 112 ; Monier
Williams, Religious Life and TJwught in India, p. 354 ;
Trans, of the EtJinological Society, iii, 327). May not our
proverb, " Blest is the bride on whom the sun doth shine"
(Herrick), go back to a like belief?

I have not been able to find other instances in which the
sunbeam enters the mouth. A beam came out of Charles
the Great's mouth, and illumined his head (Grimm, D. M.,
Eng. trans., p. 323, according to a story in the G alien
restore). Liebrecht (/. c.) compares with the Alankava
story the passage of Pliny (xxxvi, 70, 204, Detlefsen)
describing the birth of Servius Tullius as connected with
the sacred fire on the hearth (so Dion. Halic, 4, 2).

A. E. Crawley.

NOTES AND NEWS.

The next number of FOLK-LORE will contain a paper
by the Hon. J. Abercromby, an " Analysis of the Magic
Songs of the Finns" ; " South African Legends," by Rev.
James Macdonald ; " The Value of Old-French Literature in
the Study of Folk-lore," by Prof A. Wilmotte ; and some
" Scraps of Folk-lore," by Prof Rhys.

A MEETING of the International Folk-lore Council was
held on May nth, under the presidency of the Chairman
of the Council, Mr. G. L. Gomme. It was decided to
recommend that the next meeting of the International
Folk-lore Congress should take place in 1894. Negotia-
tions are now being conducted as to the most suitable place
of meeting.

Arrangements are being made for having a day
devoted to Folk-lore at the approaching August meeting
of the British Association. Members of the Folk-lore
Society desirous of sending papers are requested to com-
municate their intention to the Secretary of the Folk-lore
Society, who will submit the suggestions to a special Com-
mittee which is arranging the programme.

An important conference is about to be held between
delegates of the Anthropological Institute, Folk-lore
Society, and Society of Antiquaries, in order to discuss the
possibility of making an ethnographic survey of the British
Isles, and of ascertaining the anthropometric, archaeolo-
gical, and customary traces of the various races that have
inhabited these isles. Messrs. Clodd, Gomme, and Jacobs
have been appointed delegates from the Folk-lore
Society.

Notes and News. 271

The movement for establishing local Folk-lore Com-
mittees for each of the English counties has taken great
strides. The Committee for Leicestershire and Rutland
has been already constituted, and those for Gloucester,
Lancashire, Lincoln, Norfolk, and Suffolk are in process
of formation.

Besides the local Committees, individual workers are
now at work collecting from printed sources the folk-lore of
various counties, on the model of Mr. Hartland's collection
for Gloucestershire, already issued to members of the Folk-
lore Society. Miss Dendy has undertaken Lancashire ;
Lady Camilla Gurdon and Mr. E. Clodd, Suffolk ; Mr.
Emslie, Middlesex ; Mr. Billson, Leicestershire ; and Mr.
Gerish, Norfolk.

We have to welcome another Folk-lore Society, and we
do so the more readily that it is in an English-speaking
country, indeed in a British colony. At a meeting in
Montreal, a Canadian Folk-lore Society was formed, with
Mr. John Reade, one of the members of the English
Society, as the Hon. Secretary.

The Denhain Tracts^ vol. i, have been passed for press,
and will be shortly issued as the remaining part of the
Folk-lore Society's publications for 1891.

Covers for Folk-Lore, vol, ii, can be obtained on
application to the Publisher, Mr. David Nutt, 270, Strand.

Communications for the next number of Folk-Lore
must reach the Office, 270, Strand, on or before August ist.

FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

PROCEEDINGS AT EVENING MEETINGS.

An Evening Meeting was held at 32, Albemarle Street, W., on
Wednesday, March 9th, 1892. The President (Mr. G. L. Gomme,
F.S.A.) in the chair.

The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

The following new members were elected, viz. : Mr. W. B. Gerish,
Mr. M. Longworth Dames, Miss Lucy E. Broadwood, and the Guild-
hall Library.

Mrs. Gomme exhibited some Twelfth Cakes from Falmouth ; and
the Chairman a Rope Ring, sent him by Mr. Watkins.

A short paper on " The First-foot Superstition" was read by Mr.
T. W. E. Higgens, and a discussion followed, in which Dr. Gaster,
Messrs. Nutt and Clodd, and the Chairman took part.

Mrs. Gutch then read a paper on " The Pied Piper of Hamelin",
and a discussion followed, in which Dr. Gaster, Mr. Nutt, and the
Chairman took part.

An Evening Meeting was held at 22, Albemarle Street, on Wed-
nesday, April 13th, 1892. The President (Mr. G. L. Gomme) in the
chair.

The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

The following announcements were made, viz. :

Death— Mr. W. Harrison. Resigftafion—Mr . W. F. St. John.
New Members — Messrs. J. Davidson, W. J. Knowles, F. A. Milne,
F. D. Mocatta, A. E. Crawley, and the Chicago Folk-lore Society.

The Hon. J. Abercromby read a paper entitled " An Analysis of
some Finnish Songs on the Origin of Things", and a discussion
followed, in which the President and Mr. Jacobs took part.

The Rev. James Sibree then read his paper on " Divination among
the Malagasy ; together with native ideas as to Fate and Destiny",

Folk-lore Society. 273

illustrating it by diagrams ; and the President having expressed his
thanks to Mr. Sibree for his paper, the meeting terminated with a
hearty vote of thanks to him.

An Evening Meeting was held at 22, Albemarle Street, on Wed-
nesday, May nth, 1892. The President (Mr. G. L. Gomme) in the
chair.

The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

The following announcements were made, viz. :

Resignations — Rev. E. P. Larken and Rev. F. H. J. McCormick.
New Members — Mr. J. K. Hudson, Mr. Llywarch Reynolds, Mr. E.
Foster, and Mr. Stuart-Glennie.

A short paper, entitled " Miscellania", was read by Mr. M. J. Wal-
house, and a discussion followed, in which Mr. Kirby, Mr. Leveson-
Gower, and the President took part.

The Secretary then read a short paper by Professor Rhys ; after
which Professor Tcheraz read a paper on " Armenian Folk-lore",
which was followed by a discussion, in which Mr. Clodd, Mr. Hago-
pian, and the President took part.

The meeting terminated with a hearty vote of thanks to the authors
and readers of the several papers.

VOL. III.

MISCELLANEA.

Exorcism in Wales. — Some time about the year 1845, that is, when
I was about ten years of age, so far as I can recollect, there was a house
called Penhelyg, near Aberdovey, Merionethshire, haunted by some
supposed evil spirits, which made such a disturbance, especially at
night, that the old man and woman who lived there could not sleep.
The old man met my father one day, and said both he and his wife
were perfectly worn out and exhausted for want of sleep ; they had
sent for their children to return home from London, but it would not
be possible for them to arrive within a week. None of their neigh-
bours would stay with them after dark, fearing the evil spirit. If I
remember rightly, there was a maidservant with them who was sup-
posed to be faithful, and to have no part in causing the disturbance.
The extraordinary noises, the rattling of the crockery as if they were
all breaking, the throwing of crockery from the shelves across the
kitchen on to a table opposite, without breaking any, etc., went on
in the absence of the maid as well as in her presence. My father
told the old man he feared no spirit, and would go and sit up there
next Saturday night, so that the old people might have no care or
fear, but compose themselves to rest and sleep. The old man was
extremely grateful, and my father went there accordingly. After
the old people and the maid retired, my father occupied himself chiefly
in reading different parts of the Bible bearing upon the Sunday-school
lessons in which he was always much interested, and in making notes
upon the subjects of the forthcoming lessons. During the early part
of the night he repeatedly heard the usual noises, and he thought he
saw some of the crockery moved ; but he concentrated his mind as
much as he could upon his own work, and was entirely indifferent as
to the phenomena of the supposed spirits. I remember very well
hearing him tell my mother next day, and me many times since, that
nothing was further from his mind than to do or say anything to put a
stop to the disturbance, and he never even in thought asked God to
interfere. He had not the slightest personal fear, and his mood was
to treat the whole thing with contempt and indifference. He had no
theory as to the cause of the noises, but he was certain in his own
mind that no incorporeal spirit could injure him in any way, and he
had the reputation of having the strongest arms and heaviest

Miscellanea.

-'/D

fists in the country, so he feared no human being. However, the
disturbance never recurred after that night, not in any way, either by
noises nor by removing the crockery, and many people could not be
persuaded that father did not in some way or other exorcise the spirit
by reading the Bible. Father always said there was nothing in what
he read bearing upon spirits haunting houses, so far as he could under-
stand, nor was there anything of the kind in what he wrote there that
night.

A few years before the above-mentioned incident, or about 1842,
the house of a relation of mine at Barmouth was haunted in a similar
Avay by noises, as if all the crockery in the cupboards and on the
shelves were breaking, and other noises in different places which
could not be accounted for. This went on for many weeks. A well-
known conjurer and exorcist was sent for, but he failed to put a stop
to the disturbance, which got so bad at last that all the family — ■
parents, children, and maids — left the house one night for refuge at
the house of a relation who lived near. But as soon as they arrived
there similar noises commenced in the corner cupboard of that house.
Then, from mere bravado, the children said they would make as much
noise as the spirit, so they got sticks and hammered the floors and
doors and tables and tin kettles, etc., until the spirit-noise in the corner
cupboard ceased, and for some time after. I was often told by them
they made a regular Bedlam, merely from bravado to drown the noises
of the " spirit". The " spirit", or whatever it was, never disturbed
them after that night ; they returned to their own house next morning,
and never heard a repetition of the noises.

For many years before and after 1845 there lived an apothecary
not beyond twelve miles from Machynlleth, who went to Machynlleth
every market- and fair-day to meet his customers and patients. I
shall not mention his name, nor where he lived, because some of his
descendants are highly and deservedly respected I shall call him
Mr. H. (Humbug). He became noted as one having power to exor-
cise evil spirits which caused disease to man and beast by witchcraft.
I remember an old woman who had a chronic sore on the bridge of
her nose, and I was told many times it was Mr. H. who caused it by
his incantations to mark her and to check her, because she was a
witch. Mr. H. was a deacon of the church to which he belonged.
On one occasion he was severely called to account at a church-
meeting for his dealings with evil spirits and witchcraft. He solemnly
denied the charge, but he had to confess that many people came to
him, believing he could conjure or exorcise evil spirits, and he found

T 2

2/6 Miscellanea.

it was useless for him to tell them he had no such power, so, in order
to ease their minds, he wrote certain passages in Latin with hieroglyphic
signs, which they used as charms, and they paid him willingly, much
more willingly than for rational medicine. There was another elder
of the same church who had a cow which he thought was bewitched,
because she had been in ill-health for a long time, and no one could
tell for certain what the disease was. He returned home late one
Sunday night and told his son he had consulted Mr. H. that night
about the cow, and Mr. H. had written a charm on paper, which
paper was to be given to the cow without delay in a pint of hot gruel.
The charmed paper would drive the evil spirit of witchcraft out of the
cow. The old man was too tired to prepare the gruel and give the
charmed paper himself to the cow, as he had promised Mr. H., there-
fore he went to bed, and instructed his son to give the paper to the
cow. His son prepared the gruel and gave it to the cow, but he
retained the charmed paper and brought it to my father next morning,
with a history as related above, and the history of the cow. The son
had no belief in witchcraft, nor in Mr. H., but he dare not let his own
father know that he disobeyed the instruction of Mr. H. My father
gave me the charmed paper, and I know I had it with other docu-
ments of a similar character since my return from India in 1886, but I
cannot find them now. It commenced with "Abracadabra'" and signs
of the Zodiac, then quoted verses from the Bible, Psalms, and the
Prophets, and ended by charging the evil spirit to depart in the name
of God, Jesus Christ, and the angel Gabriel, etc. That is, so far as I
can recollect it.

In 1868 I was informed by the owner of a farm that he had pulled
down an old cow-house, and built a new one some years previously.
He happened to be there one day when the workmen found a small
tin-box, much eaten and perforated by rust, in the wall of the old cow-
house which they were then pulling down. My friend, the owner,
opened the box and found in it a paper, a copy of which is given
on opposite page. Both the box and the original document found
in it are now in my possession. My friend asked his tenant
whether he could explain how the box and paper got into the wall.
The tenant said that many years before then his late father, a former
tenant of that farm, lost several of his cows from some obscure disease
which he believed was witchcraft. His father consulted Mr. H., and
obtained from him a charmed paper in a tin-box which he was to hide
in the wall of the cow-house to ward off all evil spirits and witchcraft,
and it appeared to have answered the purpose well, for there was no
recurrence of the obscure disease after that, nor any reason to suspect

Miscellanea . 277

witchcraft of any kind on the farm. The son did not know in what
part of the wall his father hid the box and charmed paper, but he had
no doubt those found were those given by Mr. H. for the purpose of
protection against witchcraft. Afterwards the writing was identified
with that of Mr. H., though written in the name of the old farmer,
who could not have written it himself — he could not write his own

name well.

Griff. Evan.s, M.D.
Br}-ncynallt, Bangor, N. Wales.

The following is an exact copy of the charm, both spelling and
punctuation, as checked by Prof Rhys with the original, excepting
that he cannot decipher the symbols after the two archangels' names.
The text, it will be observed, reads continuously to the right of them :

^ Lignum sanctae crusis defendat me a malis presentibus preateri-
tus & futuris ; interioribus & exterioribus >^ *i* Daniel Evans ►f" »f«
Omnes spiritus laudet Dominum : Mosenhabent & prophetas. Exer-
gat Deus & disipenture inimiciessus ►!< . ►f" O Lord Jesus Christ I
beseech thee to preserve me Daniel Evans ; and all that I posses.
from the power of all evil men, women ; spirits, or wizards, or hard-
ness of heart, and this I will trust thou will do by the same power as
thou didst cause the blind to see the lame to walk and they that were
possesed with unclean spirits to be in their own minds Amen Amen
*h *i' *i* *i* pater pater pater Noster Noster Noster aia aia aia
Jesus >t< Christus 4* Messyas ►J* Emmanuel ►J* Soter 4* Sabaoth >J<
Elohim ►{< on 4* Adonay ►fi Tetragrammaton *i* Ag : : *i* Panthon >J<
... reaton *i* Agios- ^ Jasper *i> ]\IeIchor ►J* Balthasar Amen

And by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Hevenly Angels
being our Redeemer and Saviour from all
Gabriel [ sym^>o/s ] ^^.j^^hcraft and from assaults of the Devil
Michad [ sjmdo/s ] ^^_^^^ ^ q j^ord Jesus Christ I beseech
thee to preserve me and all that I possess from the power of all evil
men ; women ; spirits ; or wizards past, present, or to come inward
and outward Amen ►J* *i*

FOLK-LORE BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BOOKS.

1892, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.

\English books published in London^ French books in Paris,
unless otherwise metiiioned.~\

FOLK-LORE IN GENERAL.

BULLIOT (J. B.) et Thiollier (F.). La mission et le culte de
St. Martin d'apres les legendes et les monuments populaires
dans le pays Eduen. 8vo. vi, 482 pp. Map and 200 illustra-
tions.

Bygone Lincolnshire. Edited by Wm. Andrews. 2 vols. 8vo.
X, 247, 256 pp. Hull : Brown and Son. 1891.

*.• Folk-lore articles: Mabel Peacock, Havelok the Dane.
PcT. IV. H. Jones, A Curious Legend. T. B. Trowsdale,
Quaint Land Tenures and Customs of the Manor. Rev. W. P.
Swaby, Superstitious Beliefs and Customs of Lincolnshire.
Rev. J. C. Walter, The Legend of Byard's Leap. T. B. Trows-
dale, The Witches of Belvoir.

Congres international des traditions populaires. Premiere session
(Paris, 1889). Compte rendu des stances. 8vo. 168 pp. 1891.

COULABIN (H.). Dictionnaire des locutions populaires du bon pays
de Rennes en Bretagne. i6mo. xvi, 378 pp. Rennes.

Delphin (G.). Recueil de textes pour I'etude de I'Arabe parld. 8vo.
vi, 367 pp. 1S91. (Very favourably reviewed by M. R. Basset
(7?. T. P., vii, 3) as a most valuable contribution to the study of
Arab folk-lore, as well as to the study of spoken Arabic.)

Gomme (G. L.). Ethnology in Folk-lore. i2mo. 200 pp. K. Paul
and Co.

Gummere (Fr.). Germanic Origins : a Study in Primitive Culture.
8vo. viii, 490 pp. D. Nutt.

Contents : Land and People — Men and Women — The Home —
Husband and Wife -The Family— Trade and Commerce— The
Warrior— Social Order— Government and Law — The Funeral —
The Worship of the Dead— The Worship of Nature— The
Worship of Gods — Form and Ceremony.

KORTH (L.). Volkstiimliches aus der Erftniederung. 8vo. Bonn,
1891.

LUCIANI (T.). Tradizioni popolari Albonesi. Sm. 4to. iv, 103 pp.
Capodistria.

Folk-lore Bibliography. 279

Owen (Rev. Elias). Welsh Folk-lore : a collection of the folk-
tales and legends of North Wales ; being the prize essay of the
National Eisteddfod, 1887. Revised and enlarged. Oswestry.
Parts I, II (pp. I -144).

ROSAPELLY (N.). All pays de Bigorre : Usages et coutumes. 8vo,
97 pp. 1891.

Weissmann (M.). Die Ratselweisheit in den Talmudim und Mid-
raschim fachHch und sachlich erlautert und in alphabet. Ord-
nung dargestellt (in Hebrew). Part I. (To be completed in 10
parts.)

FOLK-LORE AND ANTHROPOLOGY.

Ehrenreich (P.). Beitrage zur Volkerkunde Brasiliens. 4to. 80
pp., 50 plates. Berlin : Spemann.

Hellwald (F. von). Ethnographische Rosselsprlinge, Kultur- und
Volksgeschichtliche Bilder und Skizzen. 8vo. Leipzig, 1891.

Ploss (H.). Das Weib in der Natur- und Volkerkunde. 3rd edition,
revised and greatly enlarged by M. Bartels. 2 vols. 8vo. xiv,
575 ; vii, 684 pp. Portrait of Ploss, 10 plates, and 203 cuts.
Leipzig, 1891.

FOLK-LORE AND INSTITUTIONS.

Mitteis (L.). Reichsrecht und Volksrecht in den ostlichen Pro-
vinzen des romischen Kaiserreichs. 8vo. xiv, 561 pp. Leipzig,
1891.

WiNTERNlTZ (M.). Das altindische Hochzeitsntuell nach dem Apas-
tambiya-Gtihyasutra und einigen anderen verwandten Werken.
Mit Vergleichung der Hochzeitsgebrauche bei den iibrigen indo-
germanischen Volkern. Extr. Denkschr. d. K. Akad. der Wiss.
4to. 114pp. Vienna: Tempsky.

•.• The substance of this paper was read by Dr. W. before
the second International Folk-lore Congress, and will appear in
the Tra7isacttons of the same.

FOLK-TALES AND BALLADS.

Campbell (G. A.). Santal Folk-tales. i6mo. 127 pp. Santa
Mission Press.

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Edited by Francis
J. Child. Part VIII. Royal 8vo. pp. 255-525. Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co.

Contents: 226. Lizie Lindsay. 227. Bonny Lizie Bailie. 228. Glasgow
Peggie. 229. Earl Crawford. 230. The Slaughter of the Laird of Meller-
stain. 231. The Earl of Erroll. 232. Richie Story. 233. Andrew Lammie.
234. Charlie MacPherson. 235. The Earl of Aboyne. 236. The Laird
o'Drum. 237. The Duke of Gordon's Daughter. 238. Glenlogie. 239.
Lord Saltoun and Auchanachie. 240. The rantin' Laddie. 241. The Baron
o' Leys. 242. The Coble o' Cargill. 243. James Harris (the Demon Lover).

2 8o Folk-lo7'€ Bibliography.

244. James Hatley. 245. Young Allan. 246. Redesdale and Wise William.
247. Lady Elspat. 248. The Grey Cock. 249. Auld Matrons. 250. Henry
Martyn. 251. Lang Johnny More. 252. The Kitchie-boy. 253. Thomas
o' Yonderdale. 254. Lord William ; or, Lord Lundy. 255. Willie's fatal Visit.
256. Alison and Willie. 257. Burd Isabel and Earl Patrick. 258. Broughty
Wa's. 259. Lord Thomas Stuart. 260. Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret.
261. Lady Isabel. 262. Lord Livingston. 263. The new-slain Knight.
264. The White Fisher. 265. The Knight's Ghost. — Additions and Correc-
tions.
COMPARETTI (D.). Der Kalewala oder die traditionelle Poesie der
Finnen. Historisch. krit. Studie liber den Ursprung der grossen
nationalen Epopoen. 8vo. xii, 322 pp. Halle : Niemeyer.
Devogel (V.). Legendes bruxelloises. 8vo. Brussels.
Genoud (J.). Ldgendes fribourgeoises. 8vo. 280 pp. Friburg.
GlTTiiE (A.) et Lemoine (J.). Contes populaires des pays Wallons.

8vo. Ghent, 1891.
Irish Fairy Tales. Edited, with an Introduction, by W. B. Yeats.

i6mo. viii, 236 pp. Fisher Unwin.
Reliqui^ Celtics. Texts, Papers, and Studies in Gaelic Litera-
ture and Philology left by the late Rev. Alex. Cameron. Edited
by Alex. MacBain and Rev. John Kennedy. Vol. I : Ossianica.
With Memoir of Dr. Cameron. 8vo. clxxi, 430 pp. Inverness:
Northern Chronicle.

• .' This vol. comprises the most accurate text extant of the
Dean of Listnore's Book, and of other important collections of
Scotch Ossianic poetry. English version of four pieces ; modern
Gaelic transcript of the Lismore texts. A most valuable contri-
bution to the scientific study of the Ossianic cycle, and a worthy
memorial of Scotland's greatest Gaelic scholar. — A. N.
Stern (B.). Fiirst Wladimirs Tafelrunde. Altrussische Helden-
sagen mit Einleitung und Bibliographic. 8vo. 1, 290 pp. Berlin :
S. Cronbach.

*.• An excellent introduction to the study of the Russian

heroic cycle, the peculiarity of which is that we possess it as

preserved by the peasant class, instead of by singers mainly

addressing themselves to the warrior and chieftain class. — A. N.

Thuriet (Ch.). Traditions populaires du Doubs. 8vo. xxv, 527

pp. Paris : E. Lechevalier.
Volkslieder, deutsche, aus Bohmen. Red. von A. Hruschka u. W.

Toischer. Parts I-IV (pp. 1-542). Prague : Tempsky.
Ultonian Hero-Ballads collected in the Highlands and Western
Isles of Scotland from the year 15 16 until 1870. Arranged,
corrected metrically and orthographically, and translated into
English by Hector Maclean. i2mo. xiii, 184 pp. Glasgow:
Sinclair.

■.• Interesting collection of the non-Ossianic hero-ballads

Folk-lore Bibliography. 281

current in Scotland, compiled by Campbell of Islay's chief fellow-
worker. Gives translation of some of the texts in the Leabhar iia
Fetnfie not otherwise accessible. — A. N.

FOLK-LORE AND LITERATURE.

Arbois de Jubainville (H. d'). Cours de litterature celtique.
Vol. V : L'Epop^e celtique en Irlande, vol. i. 8vo. xliv, 536 pp.

Ahrens (K.). Das Buch der Naturgegenstande herausgegeben und
iibersetzt. 8vo. vii, 84, 71 pp. Kiel : Haessler. (Syriac text and
German translation of a popular natural history akin to the

" Physiologus".)

Beowulf. The Deeds of Beowulf. An English Epic of the eighth
century done into modern prose; with an Introduction and Notes
by John Earle. Cr. 8vo. c, 203 pp. Oxford : Clarendon Press.

LOSETH (E.). Le Roman en prose de Tristan ; Le Roman de
Palamede ; et la compilation de Rusticien de Pise. Analyse
critique d'apres les MS S. de Paris. 8vo. xxvi, 544 pp. E. Bouillon,
1891.

• . • A most meritorious piece of work. Does for the Tristan
portion of the Arthur cycle what Dr. Sommer has done in the
third volume of Malory for the Merlin portion. Indeed, this
work and Sommer's Malory allow a fairly complete survey of the
whole field of French Arthurian romance. — A. N.

Patzig (H.). Zur Geschichte der Herzmiire. 4to. 22 pp. Berlin:
Gaertner, 1891.

WiRTH (A.). Danae in christlichen Legenden. 8vo. vi, 160 pp.
Vienna : Tempsky.

'.• The appendix comprises inedited Greek Acts of Saints
Barbara and Irene.

FOLK-LORE AND MYTHOLOGY.
Goblet d'Alviella. L'id^e de Dieu d'apres I'anthropologie et
I'histoire (Hibbert Lectures, 1891). 8vo. xiv, 328 pp. F. Alcan.
Groot (J. J. M. de). The Religious System of China. Its ancient
forms, evolution, history, and present aspect. Manners, customs,
and social institutions connected therewith. Vol. i. Book I :
Disposal of the Dead. Part i. Funeral Rites ; Part ii, The
Ideas of Resurrection. Roy. 8vo. xxiv, 360 pp. Nine full-page
plates and numerous cuts. Leyden.

•.• The complete work will comprise about fifteen volumes.
ROBIOU (Felix). La Question des Mythes. I. (Egypte, Assyrie.)
8vo. 90 pp. E. Bouillon.

•.• A vehement attack on the evolutionist and anthropological
theory of the origins of religion. — A. N.

282 Folk-lore Bibliography.

JOURNALS.

The Academy, January 16. A. Lang, The Indian Origin of Fairy
Tales. — January 31, E. S. Hartlatid, The Indian Origin of
Popular Tales. — April, Whitley Stokes and Alfred Nutt^ The
Marriage of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Damsel.

The Antiquary, January. Charlotte S. Bnr?te, What Next.? The
Moral of the Folk-lore Congress.— February, R. C. Hope, Holy
Wells : their Legends and Superstitions (continued).

Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, vol. xiv, part i,
November 1891. Rev. J. Marshall, Some Points of Resem-
blance between Ancient Nations of the East and West. — Part 4,
Rev. C. J. Ball, Glimpses of Babylonian Religion. — Part 5, P.
Le Page Renouf, Egyptian Book of the Dead, translation and
commentary, chap. i. Part 6, Book of the Dead, translation and
commentary, chaps. 2 to 14. G. Maspero, Notes au jour le jour
(adoption, amulettes, etc.). F. L. Griffith, A Cup with a Hieratic
Inscription.

Science (New York), November 20, 1891. G. F. Kunz, Madstones
and their Magic. — January 22, 1892. C. F. Nichols, Divine
Healing,

American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, xiv, i, January 1892.
S. D. Peet, The Water-cult among the Mound Builders. /. T.
McLean, Pre-Columbian Discovery of America (continued in
No. 2). J. Deans, The Antiquities of British Columbia. D. Daly,
The Irish Discovery of America. — xiv, 2, S. D. Peet, The Mound
Builders and the Mastodon. G. P. Thurston, New Discoveries
in Tennessee.

The American Anthropologist, vol. v, No. i, January. /. Owen
Do7sey, Siouan Onomatopes. J. M^alter Fewkes, A few Tuscayan
Pictographs. M. Fells, Aboriginal Geographic Names in the
State of Washington. F. Boas, Notes on the Chemakun
Language. C. E. IVoodru^, Dances of the Hupa Indians.
y. Moo7tey, Improved Cherokee Alphabets. /. Mooncy, A Kiowa
Mescal Rattle. W. H. Holmes, Studies in Aboriginal Decorative
Art, i. G. Foivke, Some Interesting Mounds. A'. Fletcher,
Quarterly Bibliography of the Anthropologic Literature. Abstract

Folk-loi'e Bibliography. 283

of Proceedings of the Anthropologic Society of Washington (in
" Notes and News"). J. Mooney, A Yamassee Covenant.
Marriage Custom in Eastern Kentucky. Phebe Bird in Iroquois
Mythology. W. Matthews^ Meaning of the Word "Arikara".
J. N. B. Hewitt, A Sun-myth and the Tree of Language of the
Iroquois.

American Notes and Queries, December 12, 1891. E. Roberts,
Peculiar Superstitions. — January 9, 1892, Moon Superstitions.

Journal of American Ethnology and Archaeology. Edited by J.
Walter Fewkes. Vol. i, 1891. Small 4to. 132 pp. Plans and
illustrations. Co?itents : A few Summer Ceremonials at Zuni
Pueblo — Zuiii Melodies — Reconnoissance of Ruins in or over the
Zuiii Reservation.

Journal of American Folk-lore, January^March, 1892. Third Annual
Meeting of the American Folk-lore Society. H. R. Lang, The
Portuguese Element in New England. Fanny D. Ber^e?!, Some
Bits of Plant-lore. W. W. Newell, Conjuring Rats. /. VV.
Fewkes, The Ceremonial Circuit among the Village Indians of
North-Eastern Arizona. J. Dea?is, Legend of the Fin-back
Whale Crest of the Haidas, Queen Charlotte's Island, B.C.
Collection of Folk-lore in Finland. F. H. Gushing, A Zuni
Folk-tale of the Underworld. Mrs. IV. IV. Brown, Chief-making
among the Passamaquoddy Indians. Proverbs and Phrases.
Waste-basket of Words. Folk-lore Scrap-book. Notes and
Queries. Record of American Folk-lore. Local Meetings ard
other Notices. Bibliographical Notes.

Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. xxi, No. 2, November
1891. H. Li?ig Roth, The Natives of Borneo ; edited from the
papers of the late Brooke Low, Esq. : i. Magic, Burial Customs,
Festivals, and Womenfolk. C. H. Read, On the Origin and
Sacred Character of certain Ornaments of the S.E. Pacific.
Prof. F. Max Miiller, Address to the Anthropological Section of
the British Association, 1891. — No. 3, February 1S92. Rev. J.
Sibree, Curious Words and Customs connected with Chieftain-
ship and Royalty among the Malagasy. E. B. Tylor, On the
Limits of Savage Religion. Mrs. S. S. Allison, Account of the
Similkameen Indians of British Columbia. /. O. Wardrop, The
Use of Sledges, Boats, and Horses at Burials in Russia ; sum-
marised from a memoir by Prof. Anuchin of Moscow.

Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, December 1891. Sara M. Handy ^
Negro Superstitions.

284 Folk-lore Bibliography.

The Open Court. January 7. Mrs. A. Boddmgtoii, A Modern View
of Ghosts. — January 14, Paul Carus, Ghosts and the Belief in
Ghosts.

Bulletin de Folk-lore. Organe de la Societe du Folk-lore Wallon.
i, 1 89 1, deuxieme semestre. iM. IVil/notte, La porte d'enfer et la
porte du Paradis. J. Simon, L'os qui chante, variante nouvelle.
£. Monseiir, L'os qui chante (continued from i, premier
semestre). B. Variantes deja connues. c Notes. J. Delaite,
Machandelbaum, variante nouvelle. M. Wilmotte, Recettes
medicales du 13^ siecle J. Feller, Botanique populaire.

■ . • I take the first opportunity of drawing the attention of
English foik-lorists to Prof. Monseur's important and admirable
discussion of the Os qui chante folk-tale cycle. It is a model of
storyologica! investigation, and, I do not hesitate to say, the
most fruitful bit of work in the study of the folk-tale pure and
simple that has been done for many years. The method adopted
is in some ways an anticipation of that used by Miss Roalfe Cox
in her Cinderella volume.

The Society de Folk-lore Wallon deserves the support of all
folk-lorists. The yearly subscription (only 5 francs) may be paid
through me. — Alf. Nutt.
Melusine, vi, 2. H. Gaidoz, Le coq cuit qui chante. La pie mangee
qui parle. Les decorations, vi. Les Esprits Forts de I'antiquite
classique. Oblations a la mer. Les serments et les jurons. Les
ongles. F. Feilberg, Ne frapper qu'un seul coup. E. A'., Les
noms du diable. J. Tuchinann, La fascination : (6) diagnostique.
K. Meyer, Devinettes irlandaises. E. RoUand, La quarantaine
de Marie-Madeleine. La jalousie de Joseph. F. Botinardot, La
motte de terre. Bibliographie.
Revue des Traditions Populaires, 1892, vii, 2. F. Marqiier, Traditions
et Superstitions des Ponts et Chauss^es, vii {suite) ; Les Ponts,
i {suite) ; Les Routes. P. Sebillot, Les Chemms de fer. J.
Tiersot et V. dFndy, Chansons populaires recueillies dans le
Vivarais et le Vercors (deuxieme article). G. Fouju, Legendes
et Superstitions prdhistoriques : viii, Gargantua en Eure-et-Loir ;
ix, Gargantua dans I'Aisne. P. S., Les Enfants qui n'ont pas
vu le jour, ii. Mddecine superstitieuse : v, L. Morin, Empiriques
et gudrisseurs de I'Aube ; vi, G. Le Calves, Basse-Bretagne et
environs de Saint-Meen. Les noms des doigts : ii, H. Ch^guil-
laume. En Vendee ; iii, A. Certeux, A Paris. P. Scbillot., Additions
aux coutumes, traditions et superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne.
L.-F. Sauve, L'homme de glace ; Idgende de la Basse-Bretagne. —
vii, 3. R. Basset, Les Ordalies (sja'te) : ii, Par le Poison. J.

Folk-lore Bibliogi-aphy. 285

Tiersot et V. d'ltidy, Chansons populaires recueillies dans le
Vivarais et le Vercors {suite). O. Colson^ Devinettes recueillies
au pays Wallon. E. Enaud, Le Mat beni de Caurel. L.
Blairet, Petites Idgendes chretiennes : i, Saint Vorles et Saint
Valentin. P. Sebillot, Additions aux coutumes, traditions et
superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne {suite). R. Basset., Les Objets
merveilleux de Salomon {suite). A. Millie?!^ Petits Contes du
Nivernais. R. de rEstoufbeillon, Les Chasses fantastiques : i,
La chasse Gallery. A. Certeux, Les Pendus : iv, Le patron des
Pendus {suite'). F. Fertiault, Coutumes de mariage : x, Le coup
de couteau de la marine. F. Marquer, Traditions et Super-
stitions du Morbihan. L. Morin, Les Outils traditionnels : i,
Le sabot. Extraits et lectures : i, G. de Rialle, Superstitions du
pays de Mossi ; ii, A. Descubes Une Nereide messaline. P. S.,
Necrologie : A. de Quatrefages. — vii, 4. R. Rosieres, Les Mysti-
fications : iii, L'origine du poisson d'avril. /. Corne/issen, Les
noms des doigts : iv, Belgique flamande. Mme. Descubes., L'amant
maladroit : chanson de la Bresse. M. de PEstourbeillon, Bonjour
a Mars : ii, Loire-Inferieure. A. Masson, Poesies sur des themes
populaires : xxi, Les cloches a Rome. A. Harou, Les cloches :
V, Les cloches a Rome. R. Bayon., Les rites de la construction :
iv. La tour du diable. Les villes englouties, Ix-lxiii, R. Basset;
Ixiv, J. dArjnont, Les chateaux de Saint-Jacques de la Lande;
Ixv, L. de Villers, La ville du Lou-du-Lac ; Ixiv, P. S., La ville
de Coetma. P. S., Les croix legendaires. F. Marquer, Tra-
ditions et Superstitions des Ponts et Chaussdes : vi, Les Digues
{suite) ; Rupture de la digue de Corseul ; vii, Les Ponts {suite) ;
Ponts hantes. J. Cornelisseit, Les chemins de fer, ii {suite) :
Pronostics ; Noms expressifs. A. Harou, Preventions de savants.
F. Marquer, Les Routes, i {suite) : Routes du diable. A. Certeux;
Miettes de folk-lore parisien : Les Balayeurs. F. Fertiau/t,
Coutumes et usages de la semaine sainte : v, Les Roules (Cham-
pagne). R. Basset, Un pretendu chant populaire arabe. E.
Ernault, Le roi d'Angleterre : iv, Haute-Bretagne. /. Corne-
lissen, Les roseaux qui chantent : v, La croix de Sainte Cecile,
conte de la Campinere. P. Sebillot, Additions aux coutumes,
traditions et superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne {sitite) ; Rimes
et jeux de I'enfance. A. Lefevre, Prieres populaires en Seine-et-
Marne.

Revue Celtique, xiii, i. L. C. Stern, Le MS Irlandais de Leide (very
interesting inedited Fenian tales). Whitley Stokes, The Boroma.
H. de la Villemarque, Anciens Noels Bretons. J. von Pflugk-
Hartung, Les cycles epiques d'lrlande.

2 86 Folk-lore Bibliography.

Romania, 8i, Janvier 1893. F. Lot, Le Mythe des enfants cygnes.
Le chevalier au lion, comparaison avec une legende irlandaise.
(Neither thesis of M. Lot's can be sustained in the form in which
he has presented it. — A. N.)

La Tradition, 1892, 2. E. Ozenfant, Les proverbes de Jacob Cats,',i.
H. Camay, Les fetes de Fevrier. F. Ortoli, Les Charivaris. E.
Lepelletier, A propos de Philemon et Baucis. F. Chapelle, Les
'],']']'] Saints de Lanrivoard. Dr. S. Praia, La devote amoureuse ;
Le crime d'CEdipe. C. de IVarloy, Cantique sur Ste.-Marie-
Magdeleine. F. de Zepelin et de Calville, Proverbes danois, i.
J. Nicolaides, Le folklore de Constantinople {suite). L. Lalanne,
Origine de quelques legendes sur les saints. H. M., L'amant
trompe. — 3. T. Davidson, Les incantations. J. Nicolaides, Le
folklore de Constantinople, vi. S. Prato, L'homme change en
ane, vi. A. Harou, Proces contre les animaux {suite). I. Salles,
Lou Pe de Sinsoum. P. de Wailly, Le conte du ruse voleur.
F. de Zepelin, Proverbes danois, ii. /. Lemoine, Le mois de
Mai. L. Lalanne, Origine de quelques legendes sur les saints, ii.
E. Ozenfant, Les proverbes de Jacob Cats, ii. F. de Beaic-
repaire. Chansons populaires du Quercy, xii-xiii. H. Carnoy,
Le carnaval. P. Ristelhube}-, Saint Antoine en Alsace.
V. Henry, Bulletin bibliographique. E. Blemant, Le mouvement
traditionniste.

Journal des Savants, Sept. 1891. Gaston Paris, Le juif errant en
Italie (reviews Morpurgo's recent book on the subject. Cf. Mr.
John O'Neill's two articles, Nat. Observer).

Revue Generale du Droit, Sept. -Oct. 1891. E. Reich, Les institutions
greco-romaines au point de vue anti-evolutionniste ; le droit
romain et les theories modernes sur revolution.

Revue de I'Histoire des Religions, Sept. -Oct. 1891. Piepenbring,
Histoire des lieux de culte et du sacerdoce en Israel. Aymonier,
Les Tchames et leurs religions (continued in the Nov.-Dec. No.).

Ethnologische Mittheilungen aus Ungarn, zugleich Anzeiger der
Gesellschaft fiir die Volkerkunde Ungarns, vol. ii, 6-8. B. Miin-
kacsi, Kosmogonische Sagen der Wogulen. i. Die heilige Sage
von der Entstehung der Erde. 3. Das Lied von der Ueber-
schwemmung des Himmels und der Erde. 4. Die Sage von der
heiligen Feuerflut. 5. Heiliges Lied von der Herablassung der
Erde aus dem Himmel. H. v. Wlislocki, Wanderzeichen der
Zigeuner. L. Kalaviany, Kosmogonische Spuren in der Magyar-
ischen Volksliberlieferung. Ig. Kunos, Tiirkisches Puppen-

Folk-lore Bibliography. 287

theater. E. Katona, Recht und Unrecht. B. Martirko, Die
Zipzer Volkssage von Kasparek. S. Weber^ Die Kleidung der
Zipzer Sachsen. L. Reth}\ Colonien der Spanier in Ungarn.
F. S. Kuhac^ Die Klementiner in Slavonien. Magyarische
Volksballaden, etc.

Mitteilungen der litauischen litterarischen Gesellschaft, 1891. Jiiszkie-
zuicz, Heirathsgebrauche bei den Letten. Lohmeyer, Bericht
aiis dem Jahre 1606 iiber den Resten lettischen Heidentums.

Mittheilungen der Niederlausitzschen Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie
und Alterthumskunde, 1891, ii, i. Ga?jder, Der wilde Jager und
sein Ross.

Sitzungsberichte d. Kgl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1891,
Nos. 29-30. K. Wcmhold, Kriegssitten und Kriegswesen der
Germanen.

Zeitschrift fiir deutsches Alterthura, 1891, No. 4. Much, Jupiter
Taranus. Von Grtenbfrger, Germanische Gotternamen. Mttch,
Requalivahanus.

Zeitschrift d. deutschen morgenland. Gesellschaft, 189 1-2. Spiegel,
Avesta und Shah-nameh.

Zeitschrift f. vgl. Rechtswissenschaft, 1891, i. Friedrichs, Vergleich-
ende Studien iiber Ehe- und Familienrecht.

Zeitschrift fur Volkskunde, iv, 2. O. Knoop, Die neu entdeckten
Gottergestalten und Gotternamen der norddeutschen Tiefebene
und von Mitteldeutschland. E. Veckenstedt, Vorabend und Tag
St. Johannis des Taufers. T. Vernaleken, Mythische Volks-
dichtungen. Architt, Sagen und Schwanke aus der Provinz
Pommern. E. Priefer, Yolkslieder aus der Provinz Branden-
burg : aus Sommerfeld und Umgegend. L. Nottrott, Aus der
Provinz Sachsen : Der Festkalender von Spickendorf und Um-
gegend nach Sitte, Brauch und Schwank.— 3, 4. O. Knoop,
Die neu entdeckten Gottergestalten und Gotternamen der nord-
deutschen Tiefebene und von Mitteldeutschland : vi, Frau Harke.
E. Veckenstedt, Vorabend und Tag St. Johannis des Taufers.
A. S. Gatschet, Ein Sturmrennen am Horizonte ; Zwei
Indianermythen. T. Verfialeken, Mythische Volksdichtung,
viii. Bollig, Sagen aus der Rheinprovinz. MeuselbacJi, Wie
die Klosterkirche zu Paulinzella in Thiiringen Ruine wurde.
R. Fitzner, Sinnspruche und Sprichworte der magribinischen
Moslemin. E. Briefer, Volkslieder aus der Provinz Branden-
burg : Aus Sommerfeld und Umgegend. Bucherbesprechungen

2 88 Folk-lore Bibliography.

vov. E. Veckenstecit : F. von Hellwald, Ethnographische Fossel-
spriinge, Kultur- und volksgeschichtliche Bilder und Skizzen ;
J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough.

Zeitschrift des Vereins fiir Vclkskunde, ii, i. O. L. Jiriczek., Faro-
ische Miirchen und Sagen. F. Kanffma7w, Der Matronen-
kultus in Germanien. K. IVetiihohi, Zu Goethe's Parialegende.
F. Kunze, Der Gebrauch des Kerbholzes auf dem Thiiringer
Walde. E. Lovari7ii, Die Frauenwettrennen in Padua. W.
Schwarts, Die Wiinschelrute als Quellen- und Schatzsucher.
Kleine Mittheilungen ; Biicheranzeigen ; etc.

folh^%oix.

Vol. III.] SEPTEMBER, 1892. [No. III.

QUERIES AS TO DR. TYLOR'S
VIEWS ON ANIMISM}

ANIMISM" is the term, specially used by Dr. Tylor,
for what is otherwise called Spiritism or Spiritualism
— the general doctrine, namely, of Spiritual Beings ; and, to
use his own words,^ Dr. Tylor's " Theory of Animism
divides into two great dogmas, forming part of one con-
sistent doctrine : first, concerning souls of individual
creatures, capable of continued existence after the death or
destruction of the body ; second, concerning other spirits
upvv^ard to the rank of powerful deities." Similarly may
Mr. Herbert Spencer's Ghost-theory be defined. But,
though as fully and cordially as anyone here present, I
acknowledge my obligations to Dr. Tylor, and especially
to Mr. Herbert Spencer, I venture to think — and trust
that you will agree with me in thinking — that the time
has now come for a more searching criticism of the Ghost-
theory which these writers hold in common. I propose,
however, to confine myself here to the form it assumes in
Dr. Tylor's Theory of Animism. And without further
preface, I shall state my first Query.

^ This Paper is here printed as read at the meeting of the Folk-lore
Society on the 15th June 1892, save that the first Query, which re-
lated more particularly to Mr. Spencer's views, is omitted, and certain
of the other Queries are stated somewhat differently.

2 Prim. Cult., i, pp. 384-5.

VOL. in. u

.290 Queries on Animism.

I. — My first Query is : Does not the theory of Animism
'■ — so far as it is an attempt to account for the conception
of Nature as animated — inconsistently ignore an admittedly
primitive conception of Nature which, if consistently recog-
nised, would make the theory unnecessary ; and is not the
consequent subsumption of Fetishism under Animism a
self-contradictory confusing of two essentially different
conceptions?

Both Mr. Spencer and Dr. Tylor admit, though in
different ways, that the notion of the animation of nature
by " souls" was not the primordial conception of Nature.
According to Mr. Spencer, the earliest conception of Nature
was one in which there was the most definite discrimination
between "animate" and "inanimate", living and dead. This
theory I may elsewhere have occasion to discuss, and here
I shall only remark that it appears to be founded on the
singular fallacy of confusing the very abstract notions of
"animate" and "inanimate" with the very concrete notions of
harmful and harmless. Dr. Tylor, however, declares that,
" for his part he fails to see anything to object to in the
ordinary notion that savages do directly personify the Sun,
or the Sky, the Wind, or the Rivers, treating them as great
beings acting by will, and able to do good or harm."^ But
if there was, as Dr. Tylor elsewhere more briefly puts it,
" a primordial personification of inanimate objects and
powers"," it is difficult to see the logical necessity for the
elaboration of a theory of " souls" wherewith to animate
things which are already ex JiypotJiesi animated by " per-
sonification". Here Mr. Spencer is incomparably more
logical. For, as he affirms that all animals, " from cirrhi-
peds and seaflies", have, and that man also had primor-
dially, the marvellous capacity of perfectly discriminating
between "animate" and "inanimate", and as he yet admits
that, as a matter of fact, men do not now so discriminate,
he is obliged to invent his theory of " ghosts", in order to
attempt, at least, to account for the later non-discrimina-

1 Mind, vol. ii, 1877, p. 155. - Prim. Cult., i, 285.

Queries on AiiiDiisni. 291

tion in which men fall so woefully short of the perfect dis-
crimination attributed to other animals. Dr. T}'lor, how-
ever, does not merely elaborate a theory of " souls" for the
sake of such an " animation" of Nature as, in opposition to
Mr. Spencer, he has already postulated ; but, still more
illogically, if possible, he brings his primordial personifi-
cations under that general Theory of Animism which is
but a secondary result of the elaboration of a theory of
"souls". Dr. Tylor professes himself a believer in Fetishism
precisely as it was defined by Comte, namely, as " charac-
terised by the free and direct exercise of our primitive ten-
dency to conceive all external bodies soever, natural and
artificial, as animated by life essentially analogous to our
own, with mere differences of intensity".^ But though the
Fetishist theory of Comte, with which Dr. Tylor thus
expressly agrees, is in the most definite opposition to his
own theory of Animism, defined as " the doctrine of
Spirits in general", Dr. Tylor thinks that it will, to use his
own words, " add to the clearness of our conceptions", if
we define Fetishism as a " subordinate department of the
doctrine of spirits","' and so give the name of Animism to
two conceptions of Nature, which are not only essentially
different in their characteristics, but which, according to
Dr. Tylor's own contention, have two different origins —
the origin of the one being a primitive tendency, " quite
independent of the Ghost-theory", and the origin of the
other being entirely derived from the Ghost-theory.^ And
supported as I am both by Mr. Spencer^ and by Professor

1 PJiilosopliic Positive^ torn, v, p. 30.

^ Prim. Cult.,u, 132.

^ " It will probably add to the clearness of our conception of the
state of mind which thus sees in all nature the action of animated life,
and the presence of innumerable spiritual beings, if we give it the
name of Animism instead of Fetishism" {Aliiid, 1877, ii, p. 488.)
Compare Prim. Cult., i, pp. 431 and 145, 260, etc., and ii, pp. 132,
etc.

* Mind., ii, 1877, pp. 418-19, 428-29.

U 2

292 Queries on Animism.

Max Miiller^ in my criticism of Dr. Tylor's self-contradic-
tions, I may, perhaps, venture to put the above question in
such bolder terms as these : Is not the theory of Animism,
notwithstanding its sanction by the Encyclopedia Britan-
iiica^ one of the most illogical and self-contradictory, and
hence the most inimical to clear ideas, that has ever been
introduced into, and had a vogue in science ?

II. — My second Query is : May not a far more verifiable
and consistent account be given both of the character
and of the origin of primordial conceptions of Nature
than that which is offered by Dr. Tylor in his theory of
Animism }

I have just pointed out the self-contradiction in Dr.
Tylor's admission of a primordial personification of the
inanimate objects and powers of Nature, while he at the
same time sets forth a theory of the animation of Nature
by the association of " souls" with all its objects ; and the
self-contradiction also in Dr. Tylor's subsumption of
Fetishism under Animism, thus " reducing it to a mere
secondary development of the doctrine of spirits", while he
at the same time expressly accepts the opposed definition
of Fetishism by Comte. And I have now to show that,
even disregarding these self-contradictions, Dr. Tylor's
definition of the primordial conception of Nature as a

1 "Animism .... has proved so misleading a name that hardly any
scholar now likes to employ it In itself it might not be objec-
tionable, but unfortunately it has been used for a totally different
phase of religious thought, namely, for the recognition of an active,
living, or even personal element in trees, rivers, mountains, and other

parts of Nature Nay, Fetishism has been identified with

Animism, and defined as the capability of the soul to take possession
of anything whatever." {Natural Religioft, p. 158.) But already,
in 1873, nearly twenty years ago, I had entered my protest against
this disastrously confusing term in The New Philosophy of History,
p. II, n. 2.

2 See Dr. Tylor's article on Animism, and the general acceptance
of the theory throughout the work. But the Encyclopadia Briia?inica
is, in very numerous articles, a record rather of what was believed,
than of what is believed, or is on the way towards being believed.

Queries on Animism. 293

personification of its objects and powers gives a very
questionable account of the probable character and origin
of the primitive consciousness of Things. That there
ultimately arises a personification of the objects and
powers of Nature may be admitted, and I shall pre-
sently have occasion to suggest what the origins probably
were of the personifying process. But I submit that if,
with due scepticism as to the reports of missionaries and
travellers, saturated with Christian notions of "dead"
matter and immaterial " spirits", we endeavour rather to
gain a realising knowledge of primitive conceptions from
a comparative study of the different departments of Folk-
lore, scientifically classified with this end in view, we shall
conclude that the primitive, and still universally pre-
valent, conception of Nature is one in which all objects —
whether what we would call "animate" or "inanimate" —
are conceived, so far as they are noticed at all, as them-
selves Powers, harmful or beneficial. And not to Folk-
lorists only, but to Psychologists, I would appeal as to
whether such a consciousness of Things is not a necessary
condition of the existence of all creatures ; and as to
whether such a consciousness of Things as practically
discriminates only between what may eat, and what may
be eaten, implies, any such irrelevant and unnecessary
discrimination between "animate" and "inanimate" as is
insisted on by Mr. Spencer? We have here, however,
to deal with Dr. Tylor. And, again, I would appeal to
Psychologists as to whether, in the conception of the
objects of Nature as themselves Powers, harmful or bene-
ficial— understanding by the objects of Nature, of course,
those only which specially influence the creatures' exist-
ence, no notice being taken of the rest — whether in such
a conception there is any sort of "personification"? Does
a horse, for instance, either personify, or associate with
an indwelling demon, a heap of stones by the road-
side before he shies at it } And why, therefore, imagine
that a negro must cither personify an odd-looking pebble

2 94 Queries on Aniuiism.

or associate a demon with it, before it strikes his fancy as
possessed of powers that may bring him luck ? No words,
however, so far as I am aware, as yet exist that can be
desirably used to express the general concrete concep-
tion of objects as themselves Powers. Fetishism and
Fetishist will, no doubt, at once occur to you. But the
associations connected with the origin of these terms in
the Portuguese _/"^//V//6>, and which still cling to it inseparably,
make it impossible, or, at least, highly undesirable, to use
these terms to connote so general a conception of innate
powers in things as must, I think, be recognised. For the
needed term should include in its connotation not only
such manifestations of this conception as had been ob-
served by Habakkuk when he wrote — " He sacrificeth to
his net and burneth incense unto his drag, because by these
his portion is fat and his meat plenteous'''^ — but such a verse
of the hymn of the Peleiades, Priestesses of Dodona, as

Va Kap7rov<i dvlei, Sio Kkrj^ere /jbijTepa Taiav !"-

(" Earth bringeth forth fruits, therefore call Earth Mother"),
and also such a sublime invocation as that of Prometheus :

" O divine Ether, and swift-winged Breezes,
Fountains of Rivers, and Sea-waves'
Laughter innumerable. All-mother Earth,
All-seeing circle of the Sun, on you I call !"'^

Hence, as terms connoting this general concrete concep-
tion of Things as themselves Powers, however low the
expression of it, or however high, I would propose the
terms Zoonisni and Zooju'st, derived from the Greek Zwov,
an animal. For what is distinctive of our conception of

1 Hab. i, i6. ^ Pausanias, x, xii, lo.

2 Thus I have literally translated the famous lines of .(tschylus
{Prometh. Vine, 82-91). But Christian notions so overpower the
perceptions even of such a scholar as Dean Plumptre, that he actually
translates "n Aios alOrjp — "O divine firmament 0/ God "thus wholly
destroying the meaning of the passage as an appeal from the Younger
Anthropomorphic to the Elder Elemental Gods.

Queries on Animism. 295

an animal is that it has innate powers — powers due to its
very existence, and not to something else which has taken,
possession of it, and acts through it, but is not properly the
animal itself. In a less accurate way, one may define the
Zoonist conception of Nature as a conception of all Things
as living ; but more accurately, as I have said, it is a con-
ception of all Things as themselves Powers, and in which
no definite discrimination is made between dead and living
matter, save as possessed oi different powers.

ni. — My third Query is : Is there any adequate evidence,
or, indeed, any evidence at all, of the elaborate inductions
attributed by Dr. Tylor, as by Mr. Spencer, to Savages, in
the working-out of the theory of Animism, their so-called
" Savage Philosophy " ; and does not the theory of such
inductions involve patent self-contradictions ?

According to Mr. Spencer, the Ghost-theory was the
identical result, all over the world, of the meditations of
Savage Philosophers on the phenomena of shadows, re-
flections, echoes, dreams, fainting, apoplexy, catalepsy,
epilepsy, somnambulism, insanity, and death. Dr. Tylor
is of the same opinion, with only certain differences in his
list of the facts from reflection on which Mr. Spencer and
he believe the Ghost-theory to have arisen. And some
here present may remember the rather heated controversy
between these two authors of the Ghost-theory in the pages
oi Mind'm 1877, with reference particularly to the priority
of their respective lists of the phenomena which they
believed had painfully exercised the minds of their "Savage
Philosophers".! Now what I venture altogether to question
is this notion of Savage Philosophers among all races pain-
fully reflecting on the problems of existence ; and not — like
so many of us, Civilised Philosophers — dashing to conclu-
sions, but slowly working up to them through reflection on
a dozen different classes of facts ; nor, like Civilised Philo-
sophers, coming all to different, but all to identical con-
clusions. And I question this more particularly on these

^ Pp. 424-29.

296 Queries on Animism.

grounds : First, however necessary may, as I have already
pointed out, be, for Mr. Spencer, the elaboration of a Ghost-
theory in order to account, if possible, for a conception of
the animation of Nature, which he admits to be actual, but
denies to be primordial, there is, as I have also already
pointed out, no such necessity for Dr. Tylor's theory of
Animism. But setting this aside, I must remark, secondly,
that, as we have absolutely no evidence whatever of a
spontaneous origin of Civilisation among Savages, so we
have absolutely no evidence whatever of the spontaneous
origin of such a reasoned inductive and deductive Philo-
sophy among Savages, as is attributed to them by Dr.
Tylor, as also by Mr. Spencer. Thirdly, the undeveloped
mental capacities of Savages, which have been by no one
more clearly demonstrated than by Mr. Spencer — the utter
absence, or extreme defect, among them of capacities of
surprise and curiosity, of abstraction, and of deliberate
and coherent thought — make impossible the elaboration of
such a complex and consistent theory as is attributed to
them by Dr. Tylor's theory of Animism, as also, in con-
tradiction of his own principles,^ by Mr. Spencer himself in
his Ghost-theory. Fourthly, while there would be at least

^ Thus, for instance, Mr. Spencer truly says, Principles of Sociology,
i : " Conditioned as he is, the savage lacks abstract ideas" (p. 74).
" An invisible, intangible entity ... is a high abstraction unthinkable
by Primitive Man, and inexpressible by his vocabulary" (p. 133).
"'Plants are green', or 'Animals grow', are propositions never de-
finitely formed in his consciousness, because he has no idea of a plant
or animal apart from kind" (p. 83). " In proportion as the mental
energies go out in restless perception they cannot go out in de-
liberate thought" (p. 77). " Absence of the idea of natural causation
implies absence of rational surprise" (p. 85). "When the Abipones
are unable to comprehend anything at first sight, they soon grow
weary of examining it, and cry, 'What is it after all?'" (p. 53). And
after citing a number of similar facts, Mr. Spencer truly says : "The
general fact thus exemplified is one quite at variance with current
ideas respecting the thoughts of Primitive Man. He is commonly
pictured as theorizing about surrounding appearances ; whereas, in
fact, the need for explanations of them does not occur to him" (p. Z']).

Queries on Animism. 297

a certain congruity in a theory of the origin of immaterial
souls, from observations and meditations on " shadows,
reflections, dreams," etc.Hhere is certainly a most significant
incongruity in a theory of the origin of souls conceived, as
Dr. Tylor rightly affirms them to be by Savages, as " sub-
stantial material beings", from such intangibilities as
"shadows, reflections, dreams", etc.- And fifthly, the
identity, not merely of the general, but of the special
conclusions assumed to have been spontaneously arrived
at by these Savage Philosophers of every race and clime
postulates such an identity in the characteristics of races
as is contradicted by all our later ethnological knowledge.

IV. — My fourth Query is : Is not the use of such terms
as " soul", " ghost", " spirit", which ordinarily, with us, con-
note immateriality and (after death) disconnection from the
body, in the highest degree misleading when applied to
primitive conceptions ; and are not these, therefore, terms
which should be as much as possible abandoned in scientific
discussions of these conceptions?

This Query is founded on the following considerations :
First, the greater part of our assumed knowledge hitherto
with respect to Savage and Folk Beliefs is derived from
the reports of Christian missionaries and travellers who
have all had an ingrained belief in an " immaterial soul",

1 For Dr. Tylor's complete list, as distinguished from Air. Spencer's,
see Mimt^ 1877, li, 424.

- See for illustrations of the notion of " souls" as " substantial material
beings", Prim. Cult., ii, 409, 412. (I might myself add many other
illustrations, and among the rest one of a very striking character from
Evliya Effendi's Narrative of Travels, published by the Oriental
Translation Fund ; but it may here suffice to refer to Shakespeare's
"sheeted dead" who leave the "graves tenantless" — Hamlet, Act i,
Sc. i). And Dr. Tylor's conclusion is, that "it appears to have been
within the systematic schools of civilised philosophy that the trans-
cendental definitions of the immaterial were obtained by abstraction
from the primitive conception of the ethereal-material soul so as to
reduce it from a physical to a metaphysical entity" (ii, p. 413). I do
not, however, believe that Savages could either form or express the
notion either of " ethereal" or "ethereal-material".

29^^ Queries on Animism.

and in the absolute difference between what they call " dead'*
and living matter; in accepting and theorising on these
reports, no allowance has been made for the turn given
to them by the preconceived notions of these Christian
missionaries and travellers ; nor any allowance for the un-
willingness and inability of savage peoples and uncultured
classes to reveal what their notions of things really are^
and their persistent effort, indeed, to conceal and mislead
when questioned as to these notions.^ Secondly, the scien-
tific study of Folk-lore, in its comparison of the genuine
expressions of Folk-belief in Folk-customs, Folk-sayings,
and Folk-poesies shows that the terms which would be
usually translated by our words " soul", " ghost", or " spirit"
do not mean anything like what these words signify to us.
One finds, for instance, that what is really meant by the
terms thus translated is not a wandering " spirit", but a
restless corpse,- and that Dr. Tylor's definition of the
" soul" as "capable of continued existence after the death
or destruction of the body", is a Christian Culture-concep-
tion, rather than a Pagan Folk-conception ; or that what

1 " The more one knows of the natives", says Bishop Knight Bruce,
\n\i\'=, Journal of the Maskofialand Mission, 1888-92, "the more one
finds how consistently they keep on conceahng from strangers what
they really think." Similar expressions of opinion might be quoted
from Bishop Codrington, and indeed from most of the m.ore recent
and more critical travellers and missionaries.

2 Thus, for instance, Mrs. Balfour, in her admirably transcribed
and most mitxQSimg Legends of Ihe Lincolnshire Cars (Folk- LORE,
March, September, and December 1891), entitles one of them " SamTs
Ghost". Yet she at the same time admits that "ghost" is "not
a Lincolnshire word", and tells us that to these peasants dead persons
are not " ghosts", but " bogles", which appears to mean " corpses
capable of feeling, speaking, appearing to living eyes, and of working
good and evil, till corruption has finally completed its work, and the
bodies no longer exist" (Folk-Lore, December 1891, pp. 492-3)-
Such an adjective as " perverse" is, of course, inadmissible with
reference to a lady ; but if a man, with similarly full knowledge, had
been guilty of such a misleading use of the term " ghost", one might
illowably have protested against it as " perverse".

Queries on Animism. 299

is meant is much more like what a chemist means by an
"essential principle", such as of tea, coffee, etc., than what a
Christian means by " soul", " ghost", or " spirit";^ or again,
that what is really meant may be but an extraordinarily
gifted, rather than supernaturally different, being. It is,
indeed, found that the main condition of a genuine under-
standing of primitive Folk-conceptions is the getting rid
altogether — or at least while endeavouring to enter into
these conceptions — of the Christian notion of "souls",
"ghosts", and "spirits". For conceiving the so-called
" Soul" to be still attached to the corpse, and the corpse
to be still in a manner living, we shall have no difficulty in
understanding the care taken, by the Egyptians particularly,
to ensure the preservation of the corpse ; nor any difficulty
in understanding the deposition with the corpse of the
dead man's belongings ; but difficulty only in accepting
Dr. Tylor's theory of the " ghosts" of the things accom-
panying the "ghost" of the dead into "Ghostland". And,
thirdly, as to the abandonment of these terms in scientific
discussions of Folk-conceptions, there would surely be
much less chance of misrepresenting them if, when a
general term was required for other than ordinary beings,
such a term as " Supernals'^ were used ; while we at the
same time frankly acknowledged our inability adequately
to translate native words for conceptions which we do not
share, and freely borrowed these words.-^

^ For instance, the Chaldean Zi^ ordinarily translated " spirit", was
not, says Professor Sayce {Religion 0/ Attcierjt Babylonians, page 327).
" a spirit in our sense of the word, nor even in the sense in which the
term was used by the Semitic tribes of a later day. The Zi was
simply that which manifested Hfe." And as to the Egyptian Ka,
Professor Sayce, in reviewing Miss Edwards's Pharaohs^ Fellahs, and
Explorers {Acad., February 13th, 1892), says: "I'he Ka meant life,
though what life was conceived to be she cannot venture to say.
I am incUned to identify the Egyptian Ka with the Akkadian ZiP

2 Miss Garnett and I have uniformly followed this rule in our
Greek Folk-so?igs and ]] 'omen and Folk-loi'e of Turkey. Among others,
Miss Frere, in her Old Deccan Days, has, I think, generally borrowed
native appellations instead of attempting almost necessarily mislead-

300 Queries on Animism.

V. — M}^ fifth Query is: May not origins of the notion of
Supernals — or, to use Dr. Tylor's words, of " Spiritual
Beings up to the highest Deities" — be suggested far more
probably verifiable than the explanation of these origins
given in the theory of Animism ?

We have thus far considered the theory of Animism as
an attempt to account for the conception of Nature as
animated. We have now to consider it as an attempt also
to account for the conception of " Spirits" associated with
Nature. In other words, we have now to consider the
theory of Animism as a theory of the origin of the notion
of Gods. In the theory so far common to both Mr.
Spencer and Dr. Tylor the notion of Gods " up", as
Dr. Tylor expressly says, "to the highest", owes its origin,
first of all, to the observations and meditations of Savages
on such phenomena as shadows, reflexions, dreams, etc.
For, as result of these observations and meditations, the
notion of "souls", "ghosts", and "spirits" was developed.
And from this notion — and, in Mr. Spencer's theory, more
especially from Ancestral Ghosts — all Gods (and he ex-
pressly includes the Semitic Yahveh) have originated. But
the starting-point in this theoretical development — namely,
observations and meditations of Savages on shadows, etc.
— I have, under the Third Query, endeavoured to show to
be wholly unvcrifiable and contradictory even of the facts
admitted by Mr. Spencer and Dr. Tylor themselves. In-
stead, therefore, of starting from unvcrifiable assumptions
as to the observations and meditations of Primitive
Savages, I would start from those conceptions of the
objects of Nature as themselves Powers, which, as I have
endeavoured to show in discussing the Second Query, must
be accepted as a necessary postulate. Let us admit, then,

ing translations. But such translations are, unfortunately, still the
rule with the majority of European folk-Iorists. Geldart, for instance,
translates Drakos as " Dragon", and Nereid as ' ' Fairy". .-\nd Nereids,
Lamias, Stoickeions, etc., are all turned indiscnminately into Fees by
French, and into Elfeii by German folk-lorists.

Queries on Animism. 301

that the conception of the objects with which a being is'
specially concerned is a conception of them as themselves
Powers, harmful or beneficial. With many races this
conception might remain as concrete as with the lower
animals. But with those among whom the specially
human faculties of abstraction and language were con-
siderably developed, the conception of Things as Powers
would be differentiated into Things and Powers conceived
as separable, just as the chemist's theine or caffeine is con-
ceived. And just as the chemist's " essential principle" is, so
the " soul" would be conceived — as we in fact know that it
was and is — as a material body itself liable to disintegration.
But psychology furnishes another, and perhaps even more
powerful condition of the origin of the notion of "Spirits", or
of what — because of the immateriality ordinarily connoted
by that term — I prefer to call Supernals. I refer to that
integrating activity of mind which creates personal shapes
corresponding to the impressions made by the aspects of
Nature. Take, for instance, the Greek Lamia of the Ocean,
'H Aa/xt<x Tov WeXar^ov, or, as she is elsewhere called, "The
Mother of the Sea", 'H Mava Tr]<; SdXacraa^, or the corre-
sponding Gaelic " Sea-Maiden". What have we in this
Supernal but a poetic synthesis of the impressions made
by the glitteringly beautiful, yet cruel and capricious Sea?
— a poetic synthesis which has nothing whatever to do
with " ghosts". These creations of folk-fancy are, in fact,
in no way essentially different, either in form or character,
from the creations of the poet or poet-painter. All are
images conveying impressions similar to those which their
creator has received from some aspect of Nature. Further,
I am quite willing to admit that observations of, and reflec-
tions on, the phenomena specially signalised by Mr.
Spencer and Dr. Tylor may have had some effect in deve-
loping the notion of Supernals. But I submit that such
observations and reflections are incomparabl)- more pro-
bable among the leisured classes of Higher Races than
among Primitive Savages ; and further, that it would be in

302 Queries on Aiiiiuisin.

the highest degree difficult to determine how much such
observations and reflections actually contributed to the
evolution of the notions in question.

VI. — My sixth Query is : Does not the theory of Anim-
ism wholly obscure the more profound " principle under-
lying" all that immense class of primitive phenomena
which may be generally indicated under the name of
Magic ; and hence, does it not hinder rather than forward
what, from the point of view of the Philosophy of History,
should be the chief object of Folk-lore Research — the
discovery and definition of the primitive conception of
Causation 1

" The principal key to the understanding of Occult
Science", says Dr. Tylor, " is to consider it as based upon
the Association of Ideas."^ It may be readily admitted
that the Laws of the Association of Ideas give certain
superficial explanations of the erroneous fancies as to
causes and effects which are found in the " Occult Sciences",
or generally, in Magic. But to treat such superficial
explanations as the most profound that can be given is,
I submit, only to obscure the necessity for more pene-
trating research. What is the general conception of Nature
which underlies those special notions of causes which we
find in the Occult Sciences and the Magical Arts ? That
is the question to which we must endeavour to discover
a verifiable answer. Now, in above urging my Second
Query, I have attempted to show that the primordial con-
sciousness of Things among Men, and general conscious-
ness of Things among Animals, down to Mr. Spencer's
" cirrhipeds and seaflies", is a consciousness only of those
objects with which they are specially concerned, and of
them simply as Powers, harmful or beneficial. But if the
different objects of Nature are thus primordially con-
ceived, how can the primordial general conception of
Nature — whenever such conception, or the germ of it,
arises — be characterised save as a conception of Mutual

1 Prim. Cull, i, \oi ; and compare pp. 107, 108, 113 etc.

Queries 07t Animism. 303

Influence ? Now I appeal to all students of Folk-lore —
or, at least, to all comparative Folk-lorists, that is to say,
students who endeavour to get at Folk-conceptions of
Nature by a comparison of the expressions of these con-
ceptions in Folk-customs, Folk-sayings, and Folk-poesies
— I appeal to such students to say whether there is any
possibility of sympathetically understanding the most cha-
racteristic facts of Folk-lore save from the point of view of
the conception of all things, not only as Powers, harmful or
beneficial, but as Powers exerting, or capable of exerting,
influences on each other, both for good and evil. It may
be true, as Dr. Tylor says, that " it is on an error of the
first order that Astrology depends, the error of mistaking
ideal analogy for real connection".^ But this notwith-
standing, I venture to say that the fundamental concep-
tion of Astrology was essentially identical with the funda-
mental conception of the Astronomy founded on the theory
of Mutual Gravitation, and developed in the later physical
applications of the principle of the Conservation of Energy.
No doubt the forms and modes in which Mutual Influence
was, in Astrology, supposed to be exerted were fanciful
and false. But I submit that, notwithstanding this, the
conception itself — at the root as it was, not only of Astro-
logy, but of Divination in all its forms, of belief in the
Evil Eye, of the use of Amulets and Charms, and of the
practices of Witchcraft and Magic generally — this concep-
tion was but a concrete form of the fundamental scientific
conception of Reciprocal Action. And, in verification of
this, I would refer especially to Sir Alfred Lyall's illuminating
paper on Witchcraft and non-Christian Religions'? For he was
the first, I believe, clearly to point out — and as result of his
Indian studies and observations — that Witchcraft and Re-
ligion (as ordinarily defined) are founded on two opposed
conceptions of Nature ; that the rites of Religion and
Witchcraft respectively have two completely different ob-

1 Prim. Cult., i, ii6.

2 Fortnightly Review, 1873 ; and Asiatic Studies, ch. iv, 1882.

304 Queries on Aniinisin.

jects in view ; and that, in point of fact, while the object
of the ReHgionist is to obtain by supplication and sacrifice,
that of the Magician is to enforce by arts founded on
knowledge. But the Magician's belief that he can obtain
what he wants by knowledge of the properties of things,
or beings, and of the arts by which these properties can
be made subservient to his will, is, I submit, essentially
identical with the belief of the Savant, and, like his,
implies the conception of the action of things on each
other, though, no doubt, in forms which to us appear the
wildest and most fanciful. And that such was the con-
ception underlying Witchcraft we find verified in the his-
torical fact that Witchcraft and Religion have always
been bitterly opposed,^ just as Science and Religion are
now opposed — Religion, at least, defined, as by Dr. Tylor,
as " belief in Spiritual Beings".

VII. — My seventh and final Query is : Is not the origin
of Religion, as defined by Dr. Tylor, a secondary, rather
than a primary phenomenon ; and may not a more veri-
fiable theory of the origin of Religion be suggested than
that which is given in the theory of Animism ?

We have found under the Second Query that Dr. Tylor
himself recognises a conception of the " animation" of
Nature by direct " personification", prior to his affirmed
" animation" of it by " souls", " ghosts", or " spirits". I
attempted, however, to show under that Query, that direct
conception of objects as Powers harmful or beneficial would
be a more verifiable way of characterising the primitive
consciousness of Nature, than that of affirming a process
of personification. Under the immediately foregoing Sixth
Query I have pointed out that, if objects are thus prim-
ordially conceived as themselves Powers, the primordial
general conception of Nature, whenever it arises, will be a

^ Sir Alfred Lyall takes the following as the significant motto to his
chapter on Witchcraft : " Witchcraft is as the sin of Rebellion."
Compare the incantation scene in the Greek Romance of Theageiies
and Chariclca by Heliodorus.

Queries on Animism. 305

conception of Mutual Influence. And as, under the same
Query, we have found that the conception underlying
Witchcraft is a conception of Mutual Influence, we must
conclude that, of the two opposed conceptions underlying
Witchcraft and Religion respectively, it is the fundamental
conception of Witchcraft that is primary, and the funda-
mental conception of Religion, as deiined by Dr. T}'lor,
which is secondary. The same conclusions may be also
otherwise reached from the facts and arguments brought
forward under the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Queries. But
first I must note that Dr. Tylor, in his definition of Reli-
gion as " belief in Spiritual Beings", takes no account of
the profound distinction shown by Sir Alfred Lyall to exist
between Witchcraft and Religion as ordinarily defined.^
For the Magician may also believe in what Dr. Tylor calls
" Spiritual Beings", and what I prefer to call Supernals.
But notwithstanding such occasional and partial commu-
nity of belief, there is still a profound difference between
the Religionist and the Magician. For while it is the
object of the Magician to force the Supernals, he may
believe in, to do his bidding, it is the object of the less
audacious Religionist to persuade them by prayer, pros-
tration, and praise to grant him his desires. And if,
therefore, Religion is to be defined as by Dr. Tylor, its
more complete and accurate definition would be — belief
in Spiritual Beings with Observances of Supplication rather
than of Command. And now to indicate our other line of
argument for the secondary character of the Religious, as
compared with the Magical Conception of Nature. Under
the Third Quer}' I pointed out that there is absolutely no
evidence of such observations and reflections by Savages as
those from which Dr. Tylor maintains that the notion of
" Souls" was primarily generalised, and the notion of Gods
ultimately developed. Under the Fourth Query, I showed
that the very terms " soul", " ghost", and " spirit" were in
the highest degree misleading when applied to the very

' Compare Chaps, iv and xviii of Primitive Culture.
VOL. HI. X

3o6 Queries on Animism.

materially conceived Supernals of Savage and Folk Belief.
And under the Fifth Query I indicated what appeared
to be a far more probable derivation of the notion of
such beings from ordinary psychological processes, if we
postulated first of all a direct conception of objects as them-
selves Powers, harmful or beneficial. Thus we are again, as
in our previous argument, brought to the conclusion that the
conception of Spiritual Beings with Arbitrary Wills, which
is distinctive of Religion (as ordinarily defined), is a later
development than that conception of objects as themselves
Powers, and hence of all the parts of Nature as bound to-
gether by Mutual Influences, which is the distinctive con-
ception of Witchcraft, or, generally, of Magic. And we
should now proceed to inquire whether a more verifiable
theory of the origin of the conceptions distinctive of
Religion may not be suggested, than that maintained in the
theory of Animism. But such an inquiry would, in my
view of the means of arriving at a verifiable solution, involve
consideration of the historical, as distinguished from Dr.
Tylor's hypothetical, Origins of Civilisation, and of the
results of the Conflict of Higher and Lower Races. And,
as Mr. Kipling would say, " that is another story."

Such, then, are the Seven Queries which I would submit
to you with respect to Animism. When I read Dr. Tylor's
book on its publication twenty-one years ago, it was with
an interest which I shall never forget, and which I grate-
fully record. But no two decades in the history of Science
have been more fruitful than those since the publication
o{ Primitive Culture. It is these later results of research
that have suggested these Queries, and encouraged me to
venture on their statement. And this seemed the more
necessary, as Dr. Tylor has just published a third, but not
a new edition of his work — " not having", as he says in his
Preface, " found it needful to alter the general argument",
but only "to insert further details of evidence, and to
correct some few statements," not particularised. His
fundamental postulates — the Homogeneity of Human
Races, and the Spontaneous and Independent Origins of

Queries on Animism. 307

Civilisation ; his fundamental theory of the Origin of
Gods from Ghosts, of Ghosts from Souls, and of Souls
from Savage reflections on Shadows, etc. ; and his funda-
mental self-contradiction in both accepting Comte's Fetish-
ism, and treating it as " a subordinate department of the
theory of Spirits" — these all, therefore, remain unchanged
in Dr. Tylor's theory of Animism. And it is these posi-
tions and their implications that I have ventured to query.

J. S. Stuart-Glennie.

Note. — When reading the above Paper, I said that conclusions as
to West-European folk-conceptions should be corrected by com-
parison with conclusions as to East-Asiatic folk-conceptions ; and
I regretted that I had been unable to attempt such correction through
such an authoritative work as Dr. De Groot's Religious System of
China, which, if then published, was not yet obtainable in London.
I have now, however — though not till after correcting the proofs of
this Paper — had the advantage of perusing the first volume of that
work ; and I may here add these general results. First, in corrobora-
tion more especially of my Second and Sixth Queries, we find that
among the Chinese the objects of Nature, including Mankind, are all
conceived as Powers not only occasionally harmful or beneficial, but
continually emitting on each other harmful or beneficial influences.
Secondly, with reference more especially to my Third, Fourth, and
Fifth Queries, we find that the notion of what is most unfortunately
translated " Souls'' is not at all identical with, or even strictly speak-
ing similar to, the notion commonly associated with that term in
English. On the contrary, it seems to be far more similar — to use
a comparison I have already used — to the chemist's " essential prin-
ciple"; it is material, but of the kind of matter called Yang, of which
the correlate is Ytnj and it continues after, as before death to be
attached to the body, though in an enfeebled condition, which, how-
ever, the influences emanating from other 'portions of Yarjg matter
may so revive that there may be a resurrection of the body. And,
thirdly, in corroboration of my first and last Queries, though we find
among the Chinese a very developed doctrine of so-called " souls",
" ghosts", or " spirits", yet these do not give " animation" to matter,
as in the theories of Dr. Tylor and Mr. Spencer, but arise from
a conception of Nature as already "animated", or rather as, in its
own proper and original constitution, consisting of two different kinds
of matter, the interaction of which produces a universal life.

J. S. S.-G.

X 2

AN ANALYSIS OF CERTAIN FINNISH
ORIGINS.

IF such branches of knowledge as zoology, botany, and
geology were confined to a study of the external
surfaces of animals, plants, and the outer crust of the
earth, without taking note of the skeleton, of the internal
structure, or of the underlying strata, our knowledge would
be vastly curtailed — would be of comparatively little
account. There is ground, therefore, for supposing that
the analysis of the internal structure of a set of origin-
stories will not be wholly useless. Several reasons suggest
themselves for selecting for this purpose the group of
origins taken from the magic songs of the Finns, which
have appeared in various issues of FOLK-LORE. Their
number is considerable. Including variants and other
versions, they amount to one hundred and thirty-five,
embracing fifty-one different subjects. They all belong to
one country and people, are all couched in the same ballad
metre, exhibit the same imagery and treatment, and be-
long, so far as their external form is concerned, to one
period, and that a modern one. Though there are nearly
fifty more Finnish prose origins, I have not included them,.
as some are clearly importations from over the border^
and their general character and style is quite different
from the metrical ones. For instance, a considerable
number describe metamorphoses from men into animals,
generally as a punishment, a mode of origination which is
not found in the metrical origins, though it is true such
transformations are not unknown in the Kalevala.

The analysis about to be submitted to you is not of the

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 309

same kind as that employed by our Society in analysing
folk-tales. It is more abstract. My object has been
rather to lay bare the mental process by stripping off every
particle of individuality till nothing is left but a formless,
though still a differentiated residuum. Reduced to this
state, we can view in a small compass the different threads
of thought, twenty-seven in number, on which smaller
groups of origins are strung. When arranged in sys-
tematic order, they form a series, progressing from those
that consist of one central thought, of one single germ, to
others that exhibit various degrees or modes of develop-
ment by means of an accompanying narrative. And in
order to show the universality of these threads of thought
or categories, as we may now call them, they have been
illustrated, whenever I could do so, by examples drawn
from the origin-stories and myths of other peoples in
different parts of the world. Though it must not for a
moment be supposed that all known origins can be com-
pressed into twenty-seven categories. That is very far
from being the case.

Each category, expressed in about a couple of lines,
consists generally of two parts: (i) The central thought,
such as S. (any subject), originates from O. (an object); and
(2) the drift of the narrative in its bearing upon S. or O.
With one exception, the case in which a given subject is
created by God, the central thought possesses two terms.
First, the subject, such as wolf, snake, oak; secondly, the
parents from which it is born, or the inanimate object from
which it originates. Further, there must be mentioned
one very important factor which is inherent in the nature
of the subject and object, and that is their likeness or un-
likeness to each other. It is evident that, when the idea
of seeking for the origin of anything entered the mind,
that the imagination, starting from a given subject, had to
find either suitable parents, or an object of some kind from
which to derive it. The mind had to pass in rapid review
the stores laid up in the memory, and to make choice

3IO An Ana/ysis of certain Finnish Origins.

therefrom. Now, one interesting result of this analysis
shows that in about eighty-five per cent, of instances the
mind has consciously selected either parents or an inani-
mate object in which it was able to trace some similarity
with the subject from which it set out.^ But this likeness
is not necessarily external and physical : it is often quite
indirect and subjective ; or, if the origin results from an
action, the likeness is to be found either in the agent, or
in the result of the action. The instances in which there
is no apparent resemblance between subject and object, or
the parents from which it is born, only amount to about
ten per cent. The second part of the category, when
there is one, gives the general drift of the preliminary
narrative solely with regard to its direct reference to the
first part, which, in fact, follows it, and forms the denoue-
ment. It often happens these references are mere hints,
but they show that the narrator was gradually working up
to a finale, of which he had a clear picture in his mind.
For there are origin-stories in which the previous incidents
are quite irrelevant to the conclusion, and the origin ap-
pears to be merely the result of a chance thought.

In so far as they have all been collected within the last
hundred years, all these origin-stories are modern. But
though their dress belongs to recent times, many of the
ideas they embody diverge so greatly from the modern
standard of physical law and of reason, that some of them
may be regarded as survivals from an older stage of
mental development. Though the word survival strictly
connotes the notion of uninterrupted continuity between
its extreme terms, it does not involve any exact notion of
length. Survivals may therefore be of different lengths or
ages. If a line A z be taken to represent the earliest
possible survival down to the present time, then F z, S z,
V z will represent shorter ones, the alphabetical distance
of F, S, V from z showing their relative distances from

^ True of twenty categories, 1-5, both inclusive, 7, 9c?, 91^, 11, 12,
15-23-

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 31 1

that point. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine
solely by an a priori argument which survivals have a
length s z and which a length v z. The difficulty lies in
deciding whether the mental state of people between the
periods s and v had been at such a standstill that the
author of an origin in the latter period thought exactly as
if he had lived in the former period, or whether he was
merely imitating an old type when giving expression to a
whimsical fancy with full consciousness that it was so. For
it cannot be doubted that the Finns in their mental crea-
tions of later times, after contact with more civilised
peoples, did employ tropes and metaphors in their poetry
merely as ornament, without intending them to be taken
literally. The wide diffusion and popularity of riddles
also proves that very quaint metaphors were in the mouths
of the people, who used them in joke, and not in earnest.
A regular law, too, of development requires a transition
period between the strange beliefs they must have held
before they occupied Finland, and those which they hold
now. During such a stage, some persons would take a
marvellous statement as matter of fact ; others, possessed
of more insight, would understand it as a humorous or
poetical figure of speech.

Though a priori reasoning is unavailing by itself, yet,
combined with other data, we are sometimes able to
assign to some origin-stories an approximate date. Tak-
ing into consideration that, in the life and imagination of
a race of hunters like the early Finns, animals must have
played a greater role than they did in later times, we may
perhaps assume this : that, when an animal origin is
ascribed to a subject in some stories, and a non-animal
origin in others of similar type, the former belongs to a
rather older stratum of thought, or to a survival of greater
length. For instance: i. In one version of the cowhouse
snake's origin (4i<r/)^ this is attributed to the slaver of a

1 The figures in round brackets refer to the origin-stories as they
have appeared numbered in Folk-Lore. From 1-24 in vol. i, from

312 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

wolf running along the ice, which fell on a pike swimming
under the ice. The slaver drifts ashore, is picked up by
a girl, and carried to a cowhouse, where it becomes a
snake. 2. In one version of the snake's origin (iirt) this
is attributed to the saliva which fell from the mouth of a
sleeping Hiisi, or Devil. An ogress swallows it, and find-
ing it too hot, spits it out on the sea. It drifts ashore, is
hardened into a spiral form, and then Hiisi gives it life.
3. A fir-tree also originates from the hair of a wolf running
along the ice, from the tooth of a pike swimming under
the ice. A hair falls off, a girl picks it up and plants it,
with the root-end in the ground. It then turns into a fir
(23^). 4. In a variant (23^), a fir-tree originates from the
tooth of a pike caught by a son of the Death-god. The
tooth falls on the grass, and from it grew a fir. 5. On the
other hand, an oak (22^^) originates from the tooth of a
comb, or the bristle of a brush which broke off while a
dark, shaven-headed girl was combing and brushing her hair.
As the word for oak is a loan-word from a Slav language,
as the conception savours more of home than of forest life,
and the more modern brush is introduced, as well as the
older comb, there is some reason for considering this fifth
story younger than the third and fourth. From the
similarity of the opening, and the animal-origin common
to both, the first and third may be considered older than
the second. From a general likeness between the third
and fourth, they may be classed together, and, therefore,
with the first, all which are therefore older than the second
and fifth. But the word for cowhouse-snake in the first is
a Russian loan-word, and probably the notion of a cow-
house-snake as well. So the third and fourth will not be
older than when this borrowing took place, and all the five
origins, though they belong to two or three periods, are
none of them really archaic, though the lengths of their
survivals may be measured by hundreds of years.

25-33 in vol. ii, from 34-40 in vol. iii, No. i ; the remainder have yet to
be published.

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 313

One more group of variants may be touched upon to
show the hesitation one may feel at necessarily attributing
to archaic times — and by that I mean before the Finns
came in contact with European races — a mode of origin
which, on the face of it, seems to belong to that epoch. It
must be remembered that the following words, on which
much depends, are importations from without: Bride and
salmon are old loans from the Lithuanian; iron, gold, and
churn are from the Gothic, or from old Scandinavian ; while
the suffix -tar, in ' Luonnotar', is from one of these three
extraneous sources. In one of the origins of iron (25^),
three maidens, all of them brides, are engendered in a
bubbling spring from the spawn of a golden fish, from
the thrust^ of a salmon, and become the origin of iron
ore. Now, undoubtedly, one is tempted, at first sight, to
remit such a conception to archaic times. In a variant, all
three Luonnotars (daughters of nature) are evolved from
Jesus rubbing his two hands together. In another version
(25^) the three maiden brides simply grow upon an island,
and afterwards shed their milk on the ground, from which
sprouts of iron grew up. In a fourth version (25^) it is
Ukko, the creative god that dwells in the air, who pro-
duces the three daughters of nature to be mothers of iron
ore by rubbing his two hands together on the top or end
of his left knee. I take this to mean that he was seated,
and that, resting his left hand on his left knee, he rubbed
with his right hand. This is very much the motion of
grinding with a quern, where the lower stone is fixed and
the upper one rotates. The fact of seeing meal, or per-
haps fire, generated, so to speak, from a handmill, may
have given rise to a figure of speech, by which living
beings were developed from rubbing the hands together.
For this is not an uncommon mode of generation in
Finnish poetry, and also occurs in a prose origin. This

1 In my previous translation I have translated 'thrust' by ' aperture',
in accordance with a note sent me by my friend Lektor Raitio, but
loukc certainly has the meaning of ' thrust, push, knock', etc.

314 ^'^ Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

being so, while origination fron:i fish-spawn is unique in
Finnish origin-stories, it is fair to assume that the latter,,
in spite of its apparent antiquity, is only a variant, and
was purposely substituted for the commoner version. The
first question to solve, then, is, What connection in idea
exists between rubbing the hands and a fish spawning?
The second is to explain how the substitution of one mode
of origination by the other took place.

The association of ideas between handrubbing and a
fish spawning lay in this: that one suggested the notion
of grinding with a mill, while the other gave the idea of
churning. It will be allowed that these two actions are
not so very dissimilar; at least, that there is no antithesis
between them. That rubbing the hands in the way I have
suggested is not at all unlike rubbing two small millstones
together is obvious. That a fish spawning evoked the
notion of churning is proved by three Finnish riddles,
which run as follows: "A golden salmon spawns on a
narrow knoll, the spawn splutters on the top." " A
salmon spawns among rapids, the milt splatters on the
top." " A golden bream is spawning, the spawn plashes
on the top." The answer to all is the same : " The butter
which rises to the top in churning." {Arvoituksia, Nos.
754) 75 5> 662.) The full meaning is this : The butterdash
inside a churn full of milk is compared to a golden salmon
or bream plashing about in the water, and discharging
spawn, which is likened to butter. From this it is evident
that, to anyone who knew the riddles — and riddles are
very numerous and popular in Finland — churning and
spawning were distinctly associated. Hence, to see any-
one at work churning, might recall the idea of a fish milt-
ing. An objection may be raised that in the origin-story
three maiden brides are produced from spawn as an
additional action, while in the riddles the action ends
with producing spawn, which is used metaphorically as the
equivalent of butter. The answer is, that the author of
the salmon-spawn variant could not change the final

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 315

result of the action, which required that three maiden
brides, or three Luonnotars, should be produced somehow
or other, to be mothers of iron. What he did do, was to
substitute the mode of action by which they were origi-
nated from one by rubbing or grinding to one by churn-
ing. And the fact that he derives them mediately from
the spawn, and not immediately from the fish, tends to
show that the notion of churning had passed through his
mind. There are other reasons for supposing that he was
not thinking of a real salmon, and that is the use of the
words hete and Idhde, to indicate the place in which it was
spawning. The first means the water under a quaking
bog, a boggy pool, a spring of water; the second means a
source or spring of water. Therefore neither of them are
places in which a salmon, or, indeed, any fish, could really
be found; though either, in riddle language, are quite
appropriate, from the confined area they imply, to stand
for a churn. Further, the word ' thrust' is not a very
fitting parallel word for ' spawn' ; but if he was thinking
of a butterdash, it would be perfectly congruous.

The second question for solution is, to explain how
origination by handrubbing was substituted for one sug-
gestive of churning. I imagine this to have been done
simply by the author of the variant happening to see a
churn, or hear it working just at the moment when he was
about to recite the birth of the mothers of iron. If he
knew the riddles — which is likely enough — the sight or
sound of a churn would readily evoke in his mind the
thought of a milting fish, and this he could easily inter-
weave into his incantation as an impromptu variation.
The origin of iron was recited over anyone who had re-
ceived a wound from an iron instrument, and therefore, in
most instances, the recitation would take place in a farm-
house : for a wounded person would naturally return or
be carried home, to be treated there, and to allow of a
wizard being sent for.

But if all that I have adduced is rejected as merely

3i6 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

plausible, we must fall back upon the argument from loan-
words. The idea then for which we have to find an
approximate date may be worded as follows: "Three
maidens, all of them brides, were engendered from the
spawn of a golden salmon to be mothers of iron." Strik-
ing out the words 'brides', 'golden salmon', and 'iron', the
statement becomes: " (Three) girls were engendered from
the spawn of a fish." Undoubtedly such a notion may
have been current among the early Finns in archaic times
(though this cannot be affirmed with certainty), but the
longer theme cannot be older than the introduction of the
word for iron — a really essential word, since it is bound up
with the ultimate purpose of the whole act. Rauta (iron)
belongs to the older series of loan-words, and may there-
fore have been put in circulation quite early in the present
era, together with its origin. But, nevertheless, the origin
itself cannot be ascribed to the archaic period in the sense
I have defined it above, as the metal was then unknown.
And my own impression is, that it does not coincide in
date with the first introduction of iron among the Finns,
but is a good deal later.

There are many other interesting points that might be
discussed with reference to these origin-stories, but to do
so would be to digress from the main object in view. I
shall therefore pass on at once to the analysis proper. As
it is convenient sometimes t,o employ abbreviations for
the sake of greater conciseness, the following will be used :
S. stands for any inanimate subject; L. S. for a living
subject, the origin of which is sought ; O. for any inani-
mate object; F. M. for father and mother: when either
letter is in italics, that particular parent is inanimate from
the modern point of view; B. stands for birthplace. In
the brief summary of the narrative, the words that hint
at, or have some special bearing upon S., F., M., or O., are
sometimes in italics.

I. S. or L. S. is born o/F. M. or M. T/ie character of
the parents is reflected in L. S. {No narrative?)

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 317

Thus the snail, a term which seems to include other
noisome creatures, is the ofifspring of the son of the Death-
god and the daughter of Pain (14). And Bloody Flux,
Scab, and Pestilence, all of them injuries wrought by
spells, are the children of a parish harlot (43^).

The following foreign example belongs apparently to
this or to the next category. The Khalka Mongols of the
Eastern Altai believe that the father of the Berset race
was a wolf, living in a wood by a lake, with whom lived a
reindeer. From them was born a son, the ancestor of the
Bersets.^ Probably these Mongols see some resemblance
of character between themselves and wolves.

2a. S. or L. S. is born of F. M. or M. The character of the
parents is reflected in (L.) S. Descriptive points in the
narrative hint at the nature, general character, or habitat of
(L.) S. For instance, skin-eruption is born of a water
Hiisi who had been rowing in a copper boat, and reached
land like a strawberry (34*^), which looks like a hint at the
redness of the skin in some skin-diseases. Cancer is the
son oi a. furious, iron-toothed old woman, who swaddled him
in bloody garments and finally sent him to destroy and
corrupt human flesh (30). Rickets, Worms, Cancerous
Sore, Sharp Frost, and many other injuries from spells,
are the result of a union between the daughter of Sharp
Spikes and a bearded sea-monster or giant (43^). The
mention of the mother going first to the Hill of Paiji in
hopes of being confined there, and then to Pohjola, the
home of witchcraft and gloom, where she finally brings to
birth, hint at the evil nature of these maladies, coming as
they do from such an ill-omened birthplace. Other
examples are the Wolf {loc), Rickets (32^), Scab (33),
Fire {^2d), Courts of Law (44), Water {"^ib, d).

The Kirghis of Tarbagatai relate that three women in
their labour clutched — the first, the earth ; the second, a
tree ; the third, the mane of a horse. From the first was
born the Chinaman, whose land is vast and whose people

^ Gardner, F.L. four rial, iv, p. 21.

3i8 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

is numerous ; from the second, the Russian, whose forests
are many, and whose people are numerous ; from the third,
the Kasak, who has little hair on the head, and is but a
small people.^

2b. S. or L. S. is born of F. M. or F. The character of
the parents is reflected in L. S. A single remark or several
descriptive points in the narrative hint at the nature, habits,
or habitat of (L.) S.

This is a variant of the above, the only difference being
that the father is inanimate from our point of view. Thus
the dog (5<t) is the result of the union of the lowest class of
the women of Pohjola and the Wind. To account for the
dog's hunting propensities, he is swaddled and cradled by
the old wife of the Forest. His domesticity results from
having had his teeth rubbed with honey by the best girl in
Pohjola. Having Wind for a father of course accounts for
his fleetness of foot. The snake is the child of the girl of
Death who is made his own by the East Wind as she lay
asleep on a meadow (ii^). That this was done unawares
was probably intended to point to the crafty nature and
perhaps the habitat of snakes. Many maladies which are in-
duced by spells are the children oi Louhiatar,w\\o swallowed
some iron groats which had been pounded by the Death-
god's daughter (43^, and thus originated them. The
remark that she gave birth to them in the bloody hut of
Hiisi's home, hints at their horrible nature, as it indicates
a fiendish birthplace. Other examples are the Lizard
(i3«). Fire (42/), Injuries from Spells (43^, b), Sharp Frost

(49^).

In the following North American example the differ-
ence is that L. S. originates from F. M. instead of F. M.
The Tsimshians of British Columbia believe that man is
born from a union between the Raven-god and an Elder-
berry bush. After the Raven-god had formed the world,
and every living creature but man, he decided to make a
race endowed with qualities that would allow them to have
' Gardner, F.-L.f., iv, p. 23.

An Analysis of certain Fi7inish Origins. 319

dominion over the whole world, a race that could claim
him as a father. He, therefore, ingerminated a stone and
an elderberry bush at the same time. If the bush should
happen to produce first, people would have nails on their
fingers and toes, and would in time die ; if the stone,
they would be covered with scales and would not die.
The bush produced first, and consequently people have
nails, are subject to sorrow and sickness, and finally to
death.i

3. L. S. is born of F. M. Inconsequentially its members
are made of all sorts of contemptuous or ridiculous objects.

Thus the bear's father and mother are called Bearworts,
but yet the old wife of the North made his head out of a
knoll, his back from a pine, his teeth from stone, his ears
from the stuffing of a shoe {'^d). Though the dog is
the child of eight fathers and one mother, yet the Earth's
wife made him a head from a knoll, his legs of stakes, his
ears of water-lily leaves, his gums and nose of the East
Wind {$b). So, too, the lizard, though its father and mother
are both called Brisks, yet it is made of birchwood, of aspen
fungus, etc., jumbled up together and poked under a pile
of wood — its usual habitat (13^).

4. L. S. is bom of F. M. A mere statement of fact.

The cabbage-worm has a blue butterfly for its father and
mother (18). The pig's mother is called Sow, and its father
Snouty. The origins of the lizard (13^, e) are obscure, but
seem to belong to this category.

5. S. is born of F. M. Descriptive poiyits in the narrative
account for the nature and character of S.

Sharp Frost is born near a lump of ice, of an ever-devas-
tating father and a breastless mother, by reason of which
he had to be suckled by a snake, nownshtd by hard weather,
and rocked to sleep by the North Wind (49^).

According to an Uigur legend, a famous hero, Pukia
Khan, was born from a tree which seems to have been

^ Deans, y. of Amer. F.-L., iv, p. 34.

320 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

ingerminated by a wonderful light which was seen to
shine on the tree before it began to swell. ^

6. S. is born of F. M. No apparent likeness between
parents and offspring. Its epitJiets explain its nature.

A swelling on the neck, with the epithets ' horror of the
earth' and ' Lempo's whore', is the offspring of Mist both
on the father's and mother's side {;}f>). A stone, the son of
Kimmo Kammo and his wife, is termed ' the heart's-core
of an ogress', ' a slice of Mammotar's liver', ' the spleen of
a ploughed field', 'the liver of dry land' (50^). Another
version (50(^) is too obscure to classify, but appears to
refer to a reddish stone of supposed meteoric origin, like
the * Herrgottsteine' of the Swabians.

7. S. or L. S. originated, generated, made from O. Some
sort of likeness, often very slight, is found between them.
{No appropriate narrative^

For instance, the likeness between a wasp's sting and a hair
suggested the origin of the wasp from a woman's hair (19).
The viper, when thought of with regard to length, general
shape, and flexibility, originates from a stony thread spun
by the Maiden of Night (i2«) ; but when pictured as coiled
up it is generated from a ring (i2<^). The resemblance
between flakes of rusty iron and scab suggested the idea of
deriving the former from the scab formed on a man that
had been badly burnt (25^. It is a common incident in
folk-tales in many parts of the world that a comb thrown
down under certain circumstances becomes an impenetrable
forest. So it is not surprising that an oak should spring
up from the tooth of a comb that broke off while a dark
girl with smooth head was combing her hair {22d). Other
examples are Man (i), Toothworm ij^Ta), Cowhouse-snake
(41a, b).

Other origin-myths may be brought under this formula,
such as the creation of the earth and sky from the lower
and upper parts of a broken egg, as described in the old

' Radlofif, Das Kudatku Biliky i, p. 1.

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 321

and new Kakvala} In the Vafthrudnis-uial the earth is
made from Yxvixx's flesh, the mountains from his bones, the
heavens from his skull, the sea from his blood, the clouds
from his brains?- A legend from Mahren in Austria relates
that rivers take their origin from the tears shed by a giant's
wife as she lamented his death. ^ In a Tatar story the hop-
plant originates from the bozvstringoi 2i. man that had been
turned into a bear.'* The Andaman islanders relate that
trees originated from the arrows which Tomo, the first man,
shot off after stringing flies to them^ (9). Though there is
a narrative attached to some of these examples, it has no
bearing upon the final denouement.

8. S. originated from O. No external or other likeness
between the in. {No proper narrative.)

There is only one example. Pleurisy, fever, inflamma-
tion— for all these are covered by the Finnish word — origi-
nated from the mist and fog sifted out by the Mist and Fog
maiden at the end of a misty promontory (35^). If this
means that long exposure to fog and damp induces inflam-
mation of the internal organs, a recent date must be
assigned to the origin, especially as the ailment is not even
personified, as is always the case with other maladies.

Substituting L. S. for S., the Amazulu have a legend that
the first man and woman sprang from a reed in the water,^
and the Ainos of Japan that rotten branches or roots of
trees sometimes turn into bears.'' A sub-group of this
would be : L. S. originated from L. O., no likeness. This
includes many metamorphoses. For instance, the Mongols
say the woodpecker was formerly a man, and was trans-
formed into a bird for theft.^ Some West African people

1 O. K., i, 270-315 ; N. K., i, 201-244.

2 Vigfusson and Powell, Corpus poet. Borealc, i, p. 64.
^ Vemaleken, Myth. u. Braiiche in Oesterreich, p. 363.

* Radlofif, Proben der Volkslitt. der Tiirk. Siberietts, i, p. 286.
'" Man,/, of Anthrop. Institute, xii, No. 2, p. 165.
® Callaway, Relig. System of the A7nazidu, p. 42.
^ Chamberlain, Aino Folk-tates, p. 54.
^ Gardner, F.-L. /., iii, p. 328.
VOL. III. Y

322 All Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

believe that all men are descended from a large spider.'
The Missassagua Indians of Ontario relate the following
succinct legend : " Long ago a girl wandered into the woods,
and became a fox-bird."-

9^. S. or L. S. originated from O. Some external or
internal likeness, often very slight, between them. A single
remark or several descriptive points in the naj'rative hint at
the character, properties, habits, or habitat of^L.) S.

The origins under this heading amount to about fourteen
per cent, of the whole. But there are some that are
hardly distinguishable from those of the seventh category.
All classification is necessarily artificial, and the boundary
between two contiguous sections is often scarcely percep-
tible. Here are a couple of instances. A ruddy fir-tree
grew from the tooth of a pike caught by the rt'rt'-cheeked
son of the Death-god (23^^). Here there seems to be an
allusion to the ruddy bark of some coniferce in the red
cheeks of the agent by whom the pike was captured.
Again, rust in corn originated from the blood of an old
woman who had fallen asleep on a cold mossy swamp, and
on waking had rubbed her hands till blood fell upon the
moss (46). The blood falling on moss appears to be a
hint that rust attacks vegetable life, though it is very
obscure so far as corn specifically is concerned. A
Swabian legend, mentioned below, is much clearer upon
this point. A toothworm (37<^) originates from bits of
besom which stuck in the teetJi oi 2ii furious old woman after
she had swept the sea, and had twirled the broom over her
head. The bits of besom of course allude to the black
spots in decayed teeth, the mention of teeth indicates the
habitat of the toothworm, while the epithet 'furious' applied
to the old woman points to violent attacks of toothache.
In a variant (37^) the girl is a blind girl of Pohjola, where
the blindness of the agent refers to the blind indiscrimin-
ating way in which the toothworm goes to work. Other

^ Ellis, Tshi-speaking Peoples, p. 339.

2 Chamberlain,/, of Amcr. F.-L., ii, p. 141.

All Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 323

examples are the Bear (3c), Seal (9), Pike (17), Birch (20)^
Trees {zy,/), Copper (24*^), Iron (25/), Toothworm (37^,
f), Cowhouse Snake {41c, e,f), Chaff in the Eye (4^), Salves
(48/^, d).

In a Swabian legend the red colour of shoots of rye
when they first appear above the surface is attributed to
Cain having killed Abel on a rye field, which thus became
reddened with innocent blood.^ According to an old Norse
belief, the dew in the valleys is the foam that drops from the
mouth of Hrimfaxi, the horse that draws the nig/it from the
east over the Blessed Powers.^ In a Chinese legend rain
is the tears of a disconsolate goddess that had been sent to
earth with a message, but had fallen in love with and
married a cowherd. In course of time she was summoned
to return to her home in the sky. Hence the tears.^ The
Maori of New Zealand relate that though Raki (heaven)
and Papa (earth) had been separated — formerly they had
been united — yet they still loved each other. Mist and
dew are the tears of Papa for Raki, are the messengers in
the form of clouds to carry the damp air and steam ta
Raki. When the west wind blows it is Raki tickling the
ears of Papa.* In another version it is said that the vast
heaven, as he mourns his separation from his beloved, drops,
frequent tears upon her bosom, and men term these dew-
drops.^ The Ainos of Japan assert that hares originated
from the snozvballs with which the children in the sky
pelted each other. To stop the hares from quarelling
Okikurumi beat each with di firebrand. Hence the body
of a hare is white because made of snow, while its ears are
black from being burnt with the firebrand.^

A sub-group of this, with the difference that L. S. origi-

^ Meyer, Sagen, Sitteit., etc., aiis ScJiwabcn., p. 248.
^ Vigfusson and Powell, op. cit., i, p. 63.
^ Gray, China, i, p. 263.

* White, T/ie Arte. Hist. 0/ the Maori, i, p. 25.

* Grey, Polynes. Mythol. and Maori Legends, p. 9.
" Chamberlain, Aino Folk-tales, p. 9.

Y 2

324 ^^n Analysis of certain Finnish Orlglnsl

nates from L. O. instead of from O., would include some
transformations of men into animals. For instance, the
Zulus relate that an idle tribe of the Amafene that did not
like to dig, but to eat at other people's expense, were turned
into baboons. At their chief's bidding they collected food
and went into the wilderness, after fastening on behind
them the handles of their digging picks. These handles
turned into tales, hair grew upon their bodies, and so they
became baboons.^

^b. L. S. is O. Some external likeness. Descriptive
points in the narrative hint at the nature and habitat of
L. S.

This subdivision, which is closely related to ga, the only
difference being ' is' for ' generated from', contains but
one example. Toothworms are grains of iron pulverised
by an ogress. In her attempt to swallow them they stick in
her teeth, thereby causing int^nsQ pain (37^).

According to the Khasias of the Himalaya, the spots in
the moon are the ashes thrown in h.\s face by his mother-
in-law, with whom he falls in love every month,-

10. S. or L. S. originated from O. No external likeness.
A single remark or several descriptive points in the narrative
hint at the qualities, properties, or habitat of(l^.) S.

Salt originated from a fiery spark, struck by the Thunder-
god, which fell into the sea, and dissolved into rock-salt (47).
The fiery spark seems an allusion to the pungent quality
of salt, and its fall into the sea to the seawater from which
salt was obtained. The habitat alone is hinted at in the
origin of the wolf (loa), and of the lizard (13^), from a
pendant or pearl that fell into the grass and brushwood.
Though in the wolf's case it is made a little clearer by the
remark that the girl from whose person the trinket fell was
travelling over heaths and swamps, the usual haunt of
wolves. Three qualities of iron originated from the milk
of three different colours shed upon a swamp by three

' Callaway, Nurseiy Tales of the Zulus, i, p. 178.
^ Tylor, Primitive Culture, \, p. 354.

An Analysis of certain Fin^iish Origins. 325

daughters of nature (25^). Other examples are the Tit-
mouse (16), Iron (25^).

Under this heading may be grouped several foreign ex-
amples. The Swabians poetically imagine that the wild
rose smells so sweet because the Mother of God (a symbol
of sweetness and fragrance)once dried her veil upon such a
bush.^ The modern Icelanders relate that C/i}'tst, while
walking with Peter along the seashore, spat into the sea, and
from his spittle a stone-grig developed. Peter also spat,
and his saliva turned into a female stone-grig. Both these
are excellent eating. The Devil, who was not far behind, saw
this, and also spat into the sea. But his spittle changed
into a jellyfish, which is fit for nothing.^ According to a
Slavonian legend, God, while travelling to the earth, became
/lot and tij'ed. A drop of His szveat fell on the ground and
developed into the first man.^ The Mazurs of Bukovina
and Galicia are, in the opinion of their neighbours, as ugly
as owls, as filthy as pigs, as lazy as oxen, as ravenous as
wolves, and as objectionable as the Devil, because the first
Mazur was born from an e^g laid by an owl, and suc-
cessively incubated by a pig, an ox, a wolf, and finally by
the Devil himself* Some Mongols believe that the Mar-
mot originates from a very skilful archer of the name of
Marmot, who cut off his thumb and buried it with the
words, " Be a Marmot."^ According to the same people,
three evergreen trees sprang up where a crow, sitting on a
cedar-tree, had upset some wonderful water. The crow had
been given a cup of precious water by a lama to pour over
the heads of men that they might become immortal. But
it had flown to the cedar-tree, and had begun to croak, with
the result that the water was spilt in the wrong place.^

1 Meyer, op. cit., p. 248.

■^ Amason, Iceland. Legends, Eng. transl., p. 11.
^ Leger, Contes pop. Slaves, p. 117; Wratislaw, Sixty Folk- tales,
p. 254.

* Kaindl, Zeitschr.f. Volkskunde, i, p. 182.

* Gardner, F.-L. Journal, iii, p. 318; iv, p. 27.

326 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

According to an incident in an Eskimo legend, a father,
from feelings of revenge, threw his daughter overboard out
of a boat, and, when she clung to the gunwale, cut off her
fingers, which were then transformed into seals and whales.^
The Navajo Indians relate that the first human pair were
formed from two ears of corn ; the yellow ear became a
woman, the white one a man. The Wind-god gave t^iem
life, the god of the white crystal rock gave them minds, the
goddess of grasshoppers gave them voices.'^

II. S. c>r L. S. originated from O. No external litseness.
The evil or disgusting character of O. is reflected in (L.) S.
Sometimes descriptive remarks in the narrative hint at the
nature^ character, or habitat of L. S.

The evil and disgusting nature of the spittle or the mucus
of a Hiisi, a Juutas, or an Ogress, is reflected in the
character of the snake (ii^, b, c, d), and the wolf {lob),
to which it gave birth. Rickets or atrophy is born from
the blood that dropped from the beak of Hiisi's evil-omened
bird the raven (S2b), and a snake from the blood that
spirted from a distaff, while the Death-god's iron-toothed
old wife was spinning (i i^). Other examples are the Cow-
house Snake (4id), Sharp Frost (49^).

The latter part of the Icelandic legend above, in which
the jellyfish owes its origin to the Devil's saliva, belongs to
this category. The South Slavonians relate that lice and
fleas originated from the zvhite and black scales of a snake
which Father Noah threw into the fire to punish it for hav-
ing taken a bite out of a swallow's tail.^ The Mongol
Diurbiuts say that the Tangnu Uryankaits (a Tartar
people) are descended from a stone, because they have no
noma books, and call themselves black Uryankai.* In
other words, they were regarded as blockheads, and it seems
uncertain in this instance whether their alleged descent from

^ Rink and Boas,/, of Amer. F,-L., ii, p. 125.
- Mathews,,/, of Anier. F.-L., iii, p. 90.
2 Krauss, Sagen u. MiircJi. d Sildslaven, ii, p. 154.
* Gardner, F.-L. fourn., iii, p. 317.

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

6^1

a stone is real or metaphorical. Compare the metaphorical
use of earth, tree, and horse's mane in the Kirghis legend
quoted above under 2a.

12. L. S. originated from O. Some externat ti/ceness
between them. Inconsequentially all its members are made of
all sorts of contemptuous or harmful tilings.

Though the raven is generated from charcoal sticks, or
from coals on a charcoal hill, yet its head is said to be made
of potsherds, its legs of Hiisi's spindles, his beak of a
sorcerer's arrow-tip, etc. (i5«, b\

13. S. is generated from sevei'alO. s, ivhich are botli physical
objects and mejital emotions.

Skin eruption, conceived as a human being, is by birth
from the earth, and results from the resentment of the
earth, of water, or the hidden venom of a frog (34^).

The Swabians believe that when anyone commits
suicide by hanging himself, a great storm arises because
the pure air is enraged at being defiled by a corpse.^ In
other words, S. (a gale) is originated from the resentment
of O. (air).

14. S. is made from O. by a magic song.

A boat is made from a piece of oak by Vainamoinen,
through singing magic songs (27).

15. L. S originated from O. by an action {blowing).
Some external likeness betiveen L. S. and O. The character
of the agent is reflected in L. S.

A snake is produced from a hollow reed into which a
fiend blew (u/). In Finnish poetry 'hollow reed' is an
occasional synonyme for a snake. The action of blowing
was evidently intended to impart life, and as the agent was
a fiend, the creature he thus animated became possessed of
evil qualities.

16. L. S, originated from O. by an action {gnazving).
Though there is no likeness betweeji L. S. and O., yet there
is a relation betiveen them. The character of the agent is
reflected in L. S.

1 Meyer, op. cit., p. 257.

328 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

The toothworm originated from a bit of bone gnawed by
a fox (37,^). One of the bases on which sympathetic magic
rests is the beHef that to imitate an action produces a
similar result. The thought underlying this origin is per-
fectly analogous. The gnawing of a bone by a fox pro-
duces a gnawing of the teeth by a toothworm, partly from
the likeness of the action, partly from the likeness of
material of bones and teeth.

17. S. originates from O. by an action {striking). De-
scriptive points in the narrative Jiint at tlic nature a7td
habitat of S.

Fire (42^, e) is struck in the sky by the Thunder-god, or
other demiurge, from a sword, and given to a maiden to
nurse. While doing so she drops it — probably because it
burnt her, though the reason is not stated— to the earth,
where it burns up a great tract of countr}-, and finally hid
in a tree. In another version it is squeezed into birch
fungus, or tinder spunk, by a demiurge, an incident which
accounts for this material easily taking fire and smouldering
for a long time. Gripes and colic originated from a lean
Lapp boy striking a man on the chest with a bloody axe

(314

The Tuba Tatars relate that fire was invented by

Ulgon's three daughters striking iron against a stone,
though they only did so after overhearing a sarcastic re-
mark which Kudai (God) had made to himself with regard
to them.^

18. L. S. originates from spinning. Its members made of
all sorts of contemptuous and Jiarmful tilings.

A snake is spun by Evil Beings, but its head is made of
a bad bean, its eyes of Lempo's flax seed, its ears of
Lempo's birch, its snout of Tuoni's pick, etc. (i \Ji).

19. S. is made quite naturatty from O. by human or
quasi-human agency. Some descriptive remarks Jiint at the
qualities, pj'operties, use, etc., of S.

Arrows are made by a sorcerer from a tall pine that

1 Radloff, Probcn d. Volksliit., i, p. 286.

An Ajialysis of certain Finnish Origins. 329

stood on the Hill of Pain, or from a metal pendant that
fell from a maiden as she was going to the wars, but was
caught by the wizard ere it touched the ground (26^, b).
Here the Hill of Pain and going to the wars are allusions
to the deadly nature of these arrows. The elf-bolts which,
when shot into human bodies, cause pleurisy, stitch, and
sudden fits, are supposed to be made in a perfectly natural
manner by Evil BctJigs from the wood of a hellish oak of
such preternatural size that it concealed the sun and moon,
and hindered the stars in their courses. Iron is made by
three maidens, bred from the spawn of a golden salmon,
who pulverised iron seeds and lumps of steel, which were
found and taken by God to the smith Ilmarinen, who
forged them in his smithy {2$e). It does not come out
clearly whether the maidens made iron out of iron seeds
(bog-iron ore), which might have been formed from their
milk, as in other versions (2 5<?, b, c), though this circum-
stance is not mentioned, or whether they made it out of
nothing : the latter alternative being much the less pro-
bable. Copper is made from a variegated stone which the
smith Ilmarinen happened to find. He took it home, flung
it into his forge fire, smelted it, and finally moulded it into
kettles (24<rz). Other examples are the Net {2^a, b, c), Ale
(39a, b), Brandy (40), Salves (48<5', e,f,g).

The Armenians of Bukovina and Siebenblirgen have a
legend which recounts that iron originated from certain
black stones which a youth found in the cave of a giant
he had killed. He noticed that the stones were hot and
molten, but that, in cooling, they hardened into a black
mass harder than the hardest stone, and also assumed
certain forms. He therefore took some of the stones —
white ones — and forged them first into a huge cudgel, then
into balls, dishes, etc., of iron.^ The river Theiss in
Hungary is so tortuous because it is a furrow made by a
plough drawn by a blind horse. A variant makes the

1 Wlislocki, March, u. Sage?? d. Biikoivinaer ti. Sid'cnbiirger Ar-
meftier, p. 8.

330 An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

draught animal a donkey, which kept going out of its
way in search of thistles.^ The Mongols assert that the
Taizan lake and another great inland sea occupy the
cavities made by a great grey ox, which tore up the earth
with its horns to procure water — there was none on the
earth at the time — which issued forth in a foaming fountain
and formed the above sheets of water.- According to the
Apaches, the earth, when first formed, was a perfectly flat
plain, but the Black Wind came along with his horns, and,
bending his head, ript open the earth, and made ravines
and canons.^ The aborigines of Victoria, in Australia, say
that Bunjil always carries a knife, and when he had made
the earth, that he cut it in many places, thus forming
rivers, creeks, mountains, and valleys. They also relate
that the first man was built up out of clay by Bunjil, who
added hair made of stringy bark, and then breathed life
into the figure he had moulded.'*

20. S. comes from O. The narrative describes natural
facts, or what may be taken as such, after making allowance
for poetic treatment.

Water came in drops from the clouds, and accumulated
in a rock crevice. Water-mantle, Vaitta's son, struck the
rock with a staff, water gushed forth, and eventually be-
came a great river (Sirt). As Water-mantle, son of a
mountain, is invoked in a charm against the ravages of
fire {Loitsurunoja, p. 249), and as another word for cloak
or mantle is thrice used in riddles [Arvoituksia, p. 141) as a
metaphor for clouds, it seems likely that here we have a
poetical image of a personified rain-cloud striking another
cloud so that water pours forth. Though it is also possible
that ' striking the rock with a staff' is a reminiscence of
what Moses did in the desert. In one of the origins of
salves (48^), an oak, in answer to a question put to it by a

1 Kdlmdny, Ethnog. Mittheil. aiis Ungaren (1891), p. 8.
^ Gardner, F.-L.f., ill, p. 321.

2 Bourke,/. of Amer. F.-L., iii, p. 209.

* Brough Smith, Aborigines of Victoria, \, p. 423-4.

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 331

boy, replies that honey had trickled from the clouds down
under its bark. The boy therefore plucks some of its
branches, peels off the bark, and boils it, with other in-
gredients, to make ointment. Another example is Water

(514

21. L. S. grew from O. A statement of natural fact.
The narrative describes the circumstances under wliicJi the
event took place.

In the origins of flax (2irt, b, c), the plant always grows
from a natural seed sown in a bed of ashes, though the
circumstances under which the ashes are obtained differ in
each case. In the last of these stories there is an
obscurity. It says that a black jade died on a meadow,
that by its bones the meadow, a rake, and an old woman
were burnt, and thus the requisite ashes were obtained.
How could its bones cause incineration? The following
riddle seems to give the solution of the difficulty : " A
horse died on a sandy heath ; a foal kicks in her belly."
Answer: "A charcoal-pit or kiln." {Arvoituksia, No.
2 1 1 1 .) The black jade therefore must mean a pile of char-
coal, and the bones are the sticks of which it is composed.
In the riddle, the kicking colt seems to be the fire under
the pile, but in the story we must understand the charcoal
to be hot. Trees, too (23^, b), grew from seed sown by
some mythological personage, such as Sampsa Peller-
voinen, Ahti, Vainamoinen. The oak either springs up
from an acorn {22a, e), or from a sapling which four
maidens find and plant on an island, where it grows into a
dreadful oak-tree.

The Mississaguas of Ontario relate that Indian corn
originates from a damaged head of maize found in the
bed of a fasting-boy, but which had seemed to come to
him in the form of a little old man, with only a little hair
over the forehead. The boy's father carefully planted
every kernel, hoed it well, and was, in time, rewarded with
a good crop, which enabled him to give corn to his neigh-
bours.^

^ Chamberlain,/, of Avicr. F.-L.^ ii, p. 143.

^^2 An A^ialysis of certain Finnish Origins.

22. S. gj'ezv frojn O. TJie7-e is a pJiysical relation betzveen
them.

Iron originates from sprouts of iron that grew up in the
footprints of a bear (25^). The sprouts of iron refer to
bog-iron ore, which has a spongy texture, with a tendency
to assume arborescent forms. This notion that iron
originated from sprouts seems to me to be the earhest
germ of the other iron myths (2 5<a:, b). It was a very
natural observation for anyone famih'ar with the ore, and
when once this was assimilated in thought to the vegetable
kingdom, it had to be watered and nourished like any
other plant. This gave rise to the development of the
story by an incident in which the daughters of Nature
spilt milk upon a marsh. The original object of this was
not, I think, to yield a material from which iron was to
originate directly, but was rather to fertilize the sprouts
of iron in the same way that shoots of corn are fertilized
by rain.

In the following examples, most of them foreign, the
earth is made from a handful of earth, or from a grain
of sand, by a supernatural growth or expansion of the
same. There is always a tacit assumption that ex niJiilo
nihil fit. In a short and defective Finnish prose story, the
Devil, at God's command, descends to the bottom of the
sea, and brings up some earth, which God rubs between
His hands, and thus increases it. But the Devil had kept
back in his mouth some earth, which grows in a similar
ratio, and causes him intense pain. So God takes the
earth from the Devil's mouth, and throws it down in
Pohjola to become stones and rocks.^ According to a
legend of the Altai Tatars, the world was made by God
from a handful of earth brought up from the bottom of
the sea by a man in the shape of a grey goose. On
making a second descent, he brings up more earth in his
mouth, which expands and nearl)- chokes him. He spits

* K. Krohn, EliitJisattija, p. 291.

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins.

ooo

it out, and the earth becomes hillocks, in swampy ground.^
In a Mordwin version of the same story, the man is
Shaitan.- The Algonquins believed that, in the begin-
ning, there was only water and a raft, on which were all
sorts of animals, under the chieftainship of the Great
Hare. A musk-rat fished up from the bottom of the sea
a grain of sand, which the Great Hare lets fall on the
raft, and which grew till it became a great mountain.^

23. S. or L. S. originates from B. No parents men-
tioned. Descriptive points in the narrative, especially those
relating to the birthplace, account for the nature, character,
habits, or habitat <y/(L.) S.

Thus sorcerers were born in Lapland in the Far North
on a bed of pine-branches (2), merely stating in fact the
country where the best were supposed to come from or
were to be found. The bear (3^;, b) was born near the sun,
moon, and stars, and was then let down to the earth to be
cradled by a i^cr^j-/- maiden under a fir. His supposed
heavenly origin is no doubt the result of the respect in
which he was held, though, perhaps, it is of late date, like
the baptism which he subsequently underwent at the hands
of the King of Heaven. Fire, too {j\2b), was born in the
sky near the seven stars, where it was rocked to sleep by a
Fire-maiden in a ' golden' thicket on the top of a ' golden'
knoll. But the spark falls to the earth and kills a child.
There is a great resemblance between some of the Fire and
Bear origins, and in this particular one a ' golden' thicket
and knoll — that is to say, one abounding in game — is appro-
priate only to the bear's origin. Ague (29) was rocked by
wind, put to sleep by cold wind, and brought to sufferers by
means of wind and water in whirlwind. Other examples
are the Oak {22b), Trees (23^, g), Whitlow (38), Salves (486-).

The Basutos believe that the first man issued either from

^ Radloff, Proben, i, p. 176.
2 F.-L.J.,v\\, p. 75.

^ Perrot, Mceiirs, Coiitioncs, etc., des Sauvages dc VAnier. scpicnt.
Public par R. P. J. Tailhan, pp. 4, 5.

334 ^^^ Analysis of cei'tain Finnish Origins.

a cave or from a swampy bed of reeds. Some Hereros
(Western Kaffirs) maintain that man and animals issued
from a tree, others that men were from a tree and animals
from a rock.^

24. 5". or L. S. originates from B. Its viembers made of
various fanciful or contemptuous tilings.

The cat (4) originated on a stove. It has the nose of a
girl, the head of a hare, a tail made of Hiisi's hair-plait,
the claws of a snake. The horse (7) is from Hiisi, from a
mountain. Its head is of stone, its hoofs of rock, its legs
of iron, its back of steel. This origin seems to have been
taken from a 'posting' formula, and applies to Hiisi's
horse in particular, not to horses in general. Gripes or
Colic is a boy, but nevertheless is made of swamp, of
coarse needle-points, of the foam of rapids, of the inside of
an ogress, etc. (31^;, h). Another example is the Elk (6).

The following Norse description of a shackle, which is
attributed by Vigfusson and Powell to a period earlier
than the Vikings, and therefore anterior to A.D. 700, is
nearly on the same lines. The shackle Gleipni was
fashioned from the tread of a cat, the beard of a woman,
the breath of fish, the milk of a bird, the roots of hills, and
the tail of a bear.^ The difference between this and the
Finnish examples under categories 3, 12, 24, is that in the
former all the formative objects are impossible, or nearly so,
and the spirit which animates the composition is humorous.
In the latter the spirit is more contemptuous and satirical,
though a humorous element is sometimes blended with it.

25. S. i?r L. S. w created by God.

Thus all trees (23//, z) are created by God, with a few
exceptions, such as the aspen, rowan, the alder -buckthorn,
and one or two more which were made by various evil
beings. Fire, too, in one version (42c), is the creation of
God, originated from the word of Jesus, and was rocked
by the Virgin Mary.

1 Schneider, Dz'e Relig. d. afrik. Naturvolkcr, pp. 74, 76.
- Vigfusson and Powell, op. cif., i, p. 16.

An Analysis of certain Finnish Origins. 335

Though in Finland origin-stories under this heading
belong to a recent period, the notion of creation by a
Supreme Being is old enough in itself. Thus the Ama-
zulus believe that the rain, sun, and moon come from the
Lord above, Unkulunkulu.^ The aborigines of Victoria
say the earth, water, sky, men, and animals were made by
Baiame, who also makes the rain to fall and the grass to
grow.- The Andaman islanders assume that Pulugu, the
creator and thunder-god, created the world and all objects,
animate and inanimate, except the powers of evil.^

With this the analysis is brought to a close. It has
made manifest, I hope with some degree of clearness, the
train of thought pursued by the authors of the origins, and
has laid bare the skeleton or framework which underlies
the narrative. It has also shown the close analogy of
internal structure between some of the categories, Nos. 13
and 16, and some popular beliefs, especially such as are
based on sympathetic magic. This is not surprising. For
when the mind is engaged in the consideration of cause
and effect, the mental process must be very similar under
all circumstances. To illustrate this I will give a couple of
examples.

It is a common incident or practice in the course of the
marriage ceremony to place in the lap of the bride a male
child, with the express purpose of insuring male offspring.
Should her first child happen to be a boy, the circumstance
is naturally attributed to the above practice, and the line
of thought pursued by those who practise the custom in
full belief of its efficacy may thus be formulated. S. (mas-
culinity) originated from O. (male child) by means of an
action (placing O. in the bride's lap). A likeness exists
between S. and O. Such a formula is analogous to cate-
gory 15. Again, take the following custom, once practised
at the village of Mammast, near Dorpat, in Esthonia.

^ Callaway, Relig. Syst. of the A7iiaznlu^ p. 59.

^ Brough Smith, op. at., ii, p. 284.

^ Man,/, of Ant hr op. Inst., xii, No. 2, p. 157.

oo"

All Analysis of ce^'tain Finnish Origins.

During a time of great drought three men used to climb
up a fir-tree in an old and sacred grove. One of them
drummed with a hammer on a kettle or a small cask, to
imitate thunder ; another knocked two firebrands together
to make the sparks fly ; the third, the rain-maker, sprinkled
water from a bucket with a bunch of twigs in all direc-
tions.^ If rain actually fell after this mimic representation
of a thunderstorm accompanied with rain, the above belief
and practice might be formulated thus. S. (rain) originated
from several actions (imitating, thunder, lightning and
rain). There is a likeness, direct and indirect, between S.
and the actions. Descriptive points in the narrative hint
at the nature and accompaniments of S. Examples such
as these could be multiplied to any extent. But from those
given we readily perceive how uniform is the mental pro-
cess, whether employed in imagining the origins of things
or in evolving what we coldly term superstitious beliefs
and practices.

^ Mannhardt, Antike Wald- it. Feldkul/c, p. 342.

John Abercromby.

BANTU CUSTOMS AND LEGENDS.

THE legends that are common among South African
tribes are very numerous, and bear a close resem-
blance to one another as told by tribes as far apart as the
Cape Peninsula and the valley of the Zambezi.

Of those I have heard among the tribes of the South
many have already appeared in Colonial and English pub-
lications. The late Dr. Bleek, Mr. Theal, and Bishop
Callaway collected and published in detail a number of
stories, sayings, and legends, some of which have come to
be well known.

While living among the Giakas, Pondos, Basutos, and
Tembus, I never made a habit of writing down legends
in detail, except when such seemed to illustrate some
particular custom or habit which I observed, and even
then made merely incidental references for purposes of
illustration. Such jottings were not intended for publi-
cation, and, as I made no references to the sources from
which I obtained them, I have only my own recollection
to guide me as to what I heard from natives, or may have
read in Colonial newspaper paragraphs or periodical arti-
cles, and so may not be able, in all cases, to acknowledge
my indebtedness to others.

Quite a number of legends are tinged with European
ideas to such a degree that it is difficult to discover the
original under the more recent crust. " Satana", or the evil
spirit, of whom they had no conception, and no word in
their language to express the idea conveyed, before they
first met with Europeans, is now one of the most pro-
minent figures in story, and those in which he appears are
" adapted", and the new blended into the old so skilfully

VOL. III. z

33^ Bantu Customs and Legends.

that one marvels at so much ingenuity in a land that
has no literature, nor even a written language. Of such
legends the original form is lost, and can only be re-
covered by means of comparison with those of inner Africa,
of which many are substantially identical with those of
the South.

I am not able to give many legends, absolutely new, in
the words of the natives themselves, for the reason stated,
but the substance of the few that can be embodied in the
compass of a single article I have heard confirmed in a
variety of ways, chiefly by reference and allusion, in speak-
ing of other matters, and thus showing familiarity with
what the story-tellers relate with all the embellishments
which their art can suggest.

The manner in which the tribes we term Bantu, for want
of a more descriptive name, became divided into so many
independent septs, and at the same time absorbed the
peoples they conquered, with hardly a trace of their nation-
ality remaining, is clearly shown by their law of succession.
Whole tribes of Hottentots have been absorbed, and not a
trace of their identity remains, except place names, and a
few words of doubtful meaning. In one case only, that
of the Gqunaqua tribe, did the Hottentot customs and
language survive. There, too, the personal character-
istics of the conquered persisted for generations, and only
within the last hundred years have they gradually re-
verted to type, and become once more thoroughly Bantu.

To begin with the law of inheritance. A chiefs wives
have each their own rank and station assigned to them
by law and custom. Frequently the youngest is the
chief wife, and for this reason : as a man advances in
life his influence and power grow, and he can then make
more favourable alliances than at an earlier period when
his chances are doubtful ; and so it happens that an old
chief of sixty often marries the daughter of a power-
ful neighbour, and promotes her to the position of chief
wife, whose son is his heir. Of the others, one is what

Bantu Customs and Legends. 339

is called " the right-hand wife". Her son has, as soon
as he becomes of age, a considerable portion of the
government assigned to him by immemorial custom, and
this he retains while the heir is a minor. This elder
brother has many opportunities of increasing his influence,
and becoming a powerful or even dangerous rival to
his younger brother, so it happens that there are num-
berless legends, chiefly of the marvellous order, but partly
true no doubt, of the perfidy of the right-hand wife's
son, and the sufferings and ultimate triumph of the true
heir.

" Long ago, before our people were scattered", says the
chronicler, " a chief living far north had many wives and
children. He was a great warrior, and very rich in cattle-
After returning from a great war he married the daughter
of a powerful chief living where the sun sets, and made her
his chief wife. She had one son, who was his heir. His right-
hand wife said to her eldest son, 'Your brother is your
father's heir. He is a child, and does not know anything.
You are a man, and I bore you when your father was young ;
I was then his favourite wife, but he now despises me, and
has not been to my hut for many moons. You are his son,
and your brother, the son of that child, will make you his
dog. I hate her and I hate her son, who is robbing you,
my son, who eat the fruit of my garden, and for whom I
grind corn and make beer. Why should my son be the
dog of her son ?'"

From that day the elder brother began, in Kaffir phrase,
' to steal the people's hearts". He went among them with
a sorrowful and dejected air. He refused to take part in
any national festivity or amusement, and even refused to
speak to many of his old favourites and companions. When
asked what was the matter, he always replied : " My heart is
sore, I am going on a long journey, I am no chief, I have
no people. These are all my brother's people we see. When
he is old I shall be despised. I am a wanderer." People
pitied one who had been so much among them, and whose

z 2

340 Bantu Cust 0771s and Lege7ids.

administration had been popular, and did their best to
comfort him, assuring him of their continued goodwill ; but
he only replied : " Bring me an assegai." In this way they
brought him a large number of assegais, but no one could
tell what he was going to do with them. They were piled
up in his house, and no one used any of them. At last he
called together all the young men who had been his com-
panions in youth, and gave each a number of assegais.
They next prepared food for many days, and all left and
travelled a long distance till they found a strange people
who were very rich. The chief of that people received the
strangers and treated them hospitably, showing them all
his wealth, and giving them everything they needed for
their journey. They stayed with him to rest, " for", said
they, " the way we travel is long, and we must eat and
rest." One morning they rose very early, " while the stars
were still bright", killed the men who guarded the chief's
great place, and "carried away all his daughters and as many
cattle as they could find in that country." They returned
with a drove of cattle " like the grass", i.e., that could not
be counted, and each had a beautiful princess whom he
made his wife.

Their next step was to build a large village near the
stream where the chief had his hunting ground, and which
he " lent" to them because he was old and could no longer
" throw a spear at a tiger". When the old man died
there were two chiefs, but the young heir said, " There
is only one chief in my father's country," and told his
brother he must give back what had been lent to him
by his father and go his way. When this was refused,
the heir raised an army and made war upon his brother,
who fled, after all his cattle were captured, and lived in a
cave of a distant mountain with his companions. A croco-
dile came to the cave and spoke to the fugitive, saying,
" Hail, chief!"

He replied, " I am no chief, I am an empty-handed
wanderer. I came here to die with my friends."

Bantu Customs and Legends. 341

" Hoe a garden and put pumpkin seed in it," said the
crocodile, and departed.

They hoed a garden in a green spot among the rocks
and sowed pumpkin seed. His younger brother sent men
to steal the pumpkins, which were so large that two men
could not carry one except with difficulty. On their
return they put the largest pumpkin in the chiefs hut.
When all were asleep a leopard came out of the pumpkin
and devoured those who slept there. The elder brother
having heard of this returned to his people and became
a great chief. He never killed a crocodile, and his descend-
ants do "as their father taught them", hold the animal
sacred.

Persecuted chiefs were not always so fortunate, and the
reverse of this legend, told in a dozen different forms, with
a lion, tiger, or baboon substituted for the crocodile, does
frequent duty by the hut-fire when the hours hang heavy,
and the darkness helps to make belief in the supernatural
stronger than it can be, even in Africa, during daylight,
A chief is driven away by a successful revolt and wanders
in the mountains scheming how he is to regain his former
position. Outlaws and ruffians gather round him, and when
on the eve of success he goes out, " when the moon is
bright", to " confer with the spirits of his fathers". He sees
a "Hili" or an "Incanti", and next morning his companions
find his body lying on the bare earth, face downwards, and
" quite shrivelled up". They disperse in terror, and never
revisit that spot again. As for the chief, his spirit wanders
for ever " calling for his people".

Stories illustrative of the wisdom of former chiefs are
common. One, which is surrounded with quite a halo of
romance, bears a curiously close resemblance to the Bible
narrative of King Solomon's decision in the case of the
mothers who disputed about the possession of the living
child. In its principal incidents the Kaffir legend is almost
identical with the Israelitish, only that it is embellished by
the history and future exploits of the infant whose life was

342 Bantu Customs and Legends.

saved by " the wisdom of the father of the people". He
became a mighty man of valour, and when the old chief
grew blind he waited upon him as his companion and
principal councillor. Finally he rose to be a great man,
and founded a dynasty of chiefs and warriors whose
descendants are " great men among the people far north"
to this day.

The elephant is a sacred animal with most Africans,
and is greatly revered by all. There is a legend floating
among the coast natives, and well known to the hillmen of
Basutoland, that, were elephants exterminated, forest-trees
would cease to grow. These huge animals feed largely on
leaves and tender branches of trees, hence the supposed
connection between them and forest timber. Nor is proof
of the tradition wanting, if anyone desires to have it.
There are large tracts of treeless grasslands in South
Africa. The people who dwelt on these, " long ago",
killed the elephants, and all the trees of their country
died.

To the Bathlapin the crocodile is sacred, and by all it is
revered, but rather under the form of fear than affection.
I have often thought that the river " calling" of South
Africa, where there are no crocodiles, is the survival of an
ancient recollection of the time when the ancestors of the
present Kaffirs dwelt on the margin of rivers infested
by these murderous brutes, and where they often saw
their women drawn underneath when going to the river to
fetch water.

Iron is the sacred object among the Baralongs. They
are expert workers in metal, which they still smelt from
its native ore by the most primitive methods ever devised
by man. The process is as follows : — They select a hollow
stone of considerable size, and chisel out a narrow grove,
along which the molten metal may flow. A hole is next
bored, generally underneath, to admit the clay nozzle of a
primitive bellows. The furnace is now complete, and the
ore, mixed with charcoal, is piled up in a conical heap on

Bantu Customs and Legends. 343

the stone. This is covered over with a mixture of clay
and fresh cow-dung to prevent the escape of heat. The
molten metal flows along the grove into moulds, which
are invariably of the same shape as the article to be
manufactured. The iron after this is worked cold, or but
rarely heated. A stone serves as an anvil, and a rude
lump of metal or stone axe for hammer. The article re-
ceives its final touches by being ground smooth and neat
with a stone, in lieu of a file.

This art was to them, in former days, a source of wealth,
influence, and power, and the legend is, that when people
did not know the value of the stones found in their
brooks, a "wise man" saw a vision : The spirit of his chief
stood beside him and said, " Gather stones and burn them
to make spears." The sage thought it was a dream, and
that the chief was hungry, so he sacrificed an ox. But the
vision returned, and the chief looked sorrowful. He stood
a long time, and at last said, "My son, why do you not obey
your father } Go to the river ; gather stones, and make a
hot fire. /\fter that, you will see iron with your eyes."
The sage was greatly frightened, and feared some calamity,
but dared not refuse. When he had made a hot fire, iron
came out of it, and then he knew the chief had taken pity
on his children. He told his son the secret before he died,
but he was a vain coxcomb, and, wishing to show his own
wisdom, made iron in the presence of strangers, and so
the secret of the art was lost to his tribe ; but they have
always continued to regard iron as sacred above all other
things.

The Bechuanas were once told by the " Great Spirit" that
their dead were all to rise and be a great army, but he
somehow changed his mind, and decided that, like other
men, defunct Bechuanas must never " look upon the sun
again". The chameleon and lizard were the respective
messengers in this case, as they were in more important
circumstances after man was first made, so it happens that,
among the Bechuanas, there is a vindictive feeling against

344 Banhi Customs and Legends.

lizards, as there is among the Coast-tribes against puff-
adders. A Coast-man will not kill a puff-adder if he can
catch it alive. He likes to torment it, and this he does by
passing a string through its jaws to close its mouth, and
then suspend it on a branch to wriggle out the remainder
of its life as a kind of grim punishment for the injuries it
inflicts.

South Africans are fatalists, and what is to be must be.
There is no such thing as death from natural causes, except
in extreme old age, when " the breath goes away". All
others die from foul play, the work of wizards and witches ;
the " calling" of the river, of seeing an incanti. These
evils may be avoided for a time, but sooner or later fate
overtakes the victim, and there can be no respite then.
Such protection as can be had is got from charms, but
there is always the danger of the evil worker being able
to circumvent the doctor, and defeat the guardian spirit.
This latter is generally the spirit of one's father, hence the
Kaf^r who escapes from danger says, " The soul of my
father saved me." This guardianship may be represented
by living creatures or objects. The guardian spirit of a
Kaffir chief is an ox, but any animal may be such, as a
baboon, a bird, especially those deemed sacred, or even a
.snake. This spirit is especially watchful when one is on
a journey, and it is wonderful the feats of travelling that
can be done by creatures in these circumstances. A
baboon, which was the messenger of evil in this case, in
Giakaland, travelled forty or fifty miles in an hour, and
no one doubted the fact except the European magistrate
who tried the culprit, and refused to release a rank im-
postor and rogue, because the whole evil was done by
someone else's familiar.

A very wise man, a kind of African prophet, had once
upon a time to make a long journey. He had to ford
large and deep rivers, and traverse wide deserts. His
friends urged him to carry a supply of food with him, and
take a few personal attendants for his comfort and safety.

Bantu Customs and Legends. 345

This he refused to do, and left alone, saying : " I shall not
die ; I hear him speaking." As he journeyed, a beautiful
creature came and laid down food beside him every night.
In his sleep it spoke to him. It said he was not to fear
lions or serpents, and that all the people he met would be
his friends ; that one day he would become a great chief,
and rule a numerous and warlike people. This creature
never left the sage till he returned home ; and when he
told his story, all the people said he had seen the gods,
and that he would now be their chief By his wisdom he
taught them many new arts, and made laws " which are
still observed by all black people".

One tribe, at least, who are descended from this worthy,
have a unique manner of salutation. They fill their mouths
with water, and squirm it into the eyes and faces of those
they v\dsh to honour, and then hug them in the most
violent manner. Then their doctors and great men have
an inordinate conceit of themselves, and this they carry
into their relations with persons whom they very well
know value their pretensions at their true worth. One
Masellulie sent a messenger, during a thunderstorm, to
the Rev. Mr. Edwards, to say he hoped the latter would
not be offended, " because your cow has been killed by
lightning which I have made". The lightning-bird is
mythical ; but powerful magicians like Masellulie have
had specimens of the genus as their familiar, and took
aerial flights mounted on the thunder-car. Lightning
being the bird's excrement, the medicine administered by
the doctor purged it violently ; hence his power to manu-
facture the subtle fluid. One old Pondo doctor of my
own time knew, in his younger days, and may even have
been a pupil of one who could traverse the limpid air, and
scatter bolts at pleasure.

These doctors have unlimited power over men's lives
and property. Among the tribes farther inland, trial by
ordeal is commonly practised by them. This may consist
of a poison-bowl, when the dose is graduated according to

346 Bantu Customs and Legends.

the purpose it is intended to serve. If the victim is to be
got rid of, he dies ; if not, then the dose is such as to give
him a severe shaking and a big fright. Another method
is plunging the hands into boiling fat. If the hands are
scalded, the person is guilty ; if not, he is innocent. How
it is they manage this trick — for trick it is — I do not know,
unless it is that they are acquainted with certain of the
effervescing substances by which they can cause molten
fat to bubble as if boiling when at a comparatively low
temperature. But an African doctor is not easily taken
aback under any circumstances. When he orders a hunter
to char the eye of his first elephant to cinders, and broil
the point of his trunk as a dainty morsel, after which he
will have full power over the life of any pachyderm, and
he, on the following day, either loses his quarry or is
tossed into the branches of an overhanging tree, the man
of science calmly tells him that a particle of the eye was
not reduced to ashes, or that the morsel cooked was not
entirely eaten by him, and that he has only his own care-
lessness to thank for his misadventure.

Nor is he without a say regarding smaller game. If
young men go hunting privately as distinguished from an
organised hunt by the chief, and eat any portion of the
product of the chase before laying it down at the feet of
the elders who remain at home, they will either die or be
turned into jackals or other beasts of prey. This is an
effectual check on the dishonesty of the savage gamekeeper
who might feel tempted to purloin a hare or pheasant-
cock.

There is very frequently a kind of honourable rivalry
between the doctor and the missionary. The former repre-
sents ancient conservatism ; the latter, innovation, revolu-
tion, and complete change of all established social customs.
When the preacher, Bible in hand, arrives at a chief's
village, the meeting-place is generally the shaded side of
the cattle-kraal or fold on the greensward. Inside the
fold a small fire is kindled while the people assemble. At

Bantu Customs and Legends. 347

this fire a few persons sit, during the service, apparently
listening to what is going on. To them the novice pays
no attention, thinking their interest is centred on the
cooking of some article of food. The man of experience,
who has studied customs and habits, knows that this small
group, on the outskirts of the crowd, consists of the village-
doctor and his attendants, and that they are engaged in
burning charms " to drive away the spirit of the book", so
that it may not enter into those who, out of courtesy, come
to hear what the missionary has to say.

Often has the missionary spoken of life, destiny, and
immortality, with a fire smouldering near at hand. I seldom
let my audience know that I understand the custom, or
that I observed what was going on, but one fellow-country-
man, a novice in the country, to whom I explained it, had
his " spirit stirred within him" when he saw the people
" given to idolatry", and burst out on them and all their
practices. At the close I encouraged a discussion, and felt
more convinced than ever I did before, that vituperation
can under no circumstances serve instead of argument.
They reasoned with him in this manner : " You live among
our people; we circumcise our young men ; this stinks in
your nose. We kill our cattle in sacrifice to our ancestors ;
you say it is God we must w^orship. On what river had he
his kraal ? Where are his people ? You say the spirit
lives, but does not care for sacrifice. Does the father forget
his own child ? Should not the children obey ? You have
your customs; we do not like them. We have ours ; you do
not like them. Why does the master scold, as we are both
the same ? Is not the land enough to grow corn for all ?"

There is a class of legends which I used to regard as
purely mythical, or, rather, the invention of interested doc-
tors, but which, in view of recent discoveries in connection
with that uncanny science known as Hypnotism, I am
inclined to think may have had a basis of truth, however
much that may have been distorted. In fact, most popular
legends have their origin, however remotely, in some

34^ Baiiht C7tstoms and Legends.

objective fact. Those referred to relate to the power said
to be possessed by certain wizards on the one hand, and
magicians or doctors on the other, of sending people to
sleep, or into a trance, and then tormenting, and even
mutilating them, without their experiencing any sensations
of pain. One man I heard of, but who was dead a good
many years, was said to possess this power, and persons
were mentioned who had been the victims of his evil influ-
ence and machinations. Into the truth of the specific
statements I did not inquire at the time, but one story, a
fair sample of those told, ran thus : A young woman
against whom he had a grudge met him in the fields. He
spoke to her, and after a little she fell asleep. When she
awoke and returned home it was discovered that her ears
were slit, and that she had been mutilated in various ways.
She said she had no consciousness of pain, and did not
know she had been injured till she saw blood on her
person.

Other and more improbable legends abound, which at-
tribute to wizards not only the power of hypnotising their
victims, but of conveying them from place to place with
incredible swiftness, or sending them for weeks or even
months into the mountains and forests to eat grass like
oxen, as happened to the famous Babylonian monarch, and
finally reducing them to be their own slaves or drudges,
after the manner of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Whether
there can be any truth in such legends culled from among
a barbarous people, those learned in the " uncanny arts"
must be left to determine.

As in nature there is but a step from birds to butterflies,
so in Africa there is but a step from magic to music, and
the feats of Orpheus are nothing compared to the doings
of bards and singers of a long forgotten past in the Dark
Continent. Of extant musical instruments there are very
few, and these are not of particularly complex construction.
A dried elephant's ear makes a very serviceable drum ;
two hard bits of stick or bone a suitable accompaniment

Bantu Customs and Legends. 349

to a song or a domestic dance. The great bull-hide drum
of heathen revelry is very simple in its construction. A
hide, w^hile wet, is firmly stretched between stakes securely
fixed in the ground. This, as it dries in the sun, contracts
violently, so that when ready for use it is pulled tighter
than any drum of European manufacture. When beaten
with suitable sticks its sound is both loud and penetrating ;
simply ear-splitting. On festive occasions relays of women
beat it, without intermission, from dusk to dawn, giving the
dancers their time, and making the neighbouring forests
resound again. This is the popular musical instrument at
large gatherings. It is to the African what his beloved
bagpipes is to the Scottish Celt.

Next in popularity comes a variety of the so-called Jewish
harp. On this skilful performers can play airs to be
rivalled only by an Irishman with the penny-whistle at a
great horse-fair in the Western Counties. I have, on still
nights, sat for hours under the verandah listening to the
playing of a Kaffir neighbour, who, in the still moonlight,
used to sit outside his hut practising on his instrument and
composing new airs, and often felt delighted with his per-
formances. He, in turn, got some benefit from the mission.
I have known him crouch outside the compound fence
listening to the piano, and now and then try snatches of
the music played on his own modest instrument. He
picked up quite a number of Scotch airs and Highland
pibrochs, and could reproduce them correctly. I am afraid,
when he went on his travels, he palmed a few of them on
his countrymen as his own composition.

Another instrument, played chiefly by women, consists
of a bow and bow-string. To the latter is attached a
small calabash, perforated in a peculiar manner, and which
acts as sounding-board. The string is twanged with the
fingers of the right hand, while the left regulates the length
of the vibration. The music is not of much account, but
the time is perfect, and for their domestic amusements
nothing could be better adapted.

350 Bantu Customs' and Legends.

There is an instrument common among the inland tribes,
but of which I never saw a specimen in the South, con-
structed somewhat on the principle of the piano. It
consists of a strong wooden framework ; into this eight
slips of wood are fixed, which, when struck in rapid suc-
cession, sound a perfect octave. Skilful players can, with
a small drumstick, perform quite a number of airs with
surprising accuracy, and all in perfect time. But of all
African musical instruments the most horribly maddening
to European ears is the reed. This resembles nothing that
I have ever heard except the "drones" of the bagpipes
when an indifferent player is getting his instrument into
tune. This is saying a good deal ; I might say more, but,
being a Scotchman, dare not with impunity.

I had many friends among the musicians, but never, un-
fortunately, wrote down any of their legends. After enter-
taining one with their strains they, one and all, would
begin : " The master sees I am a child. Our people have
forgotten music. Long ago every warrior could play skil-
fully, and a man never went on a journey but he carried
his instrument with him. The great players could bring
the beasts of the forest out of the bush to listen, and even
the birds would fly round and round them. Since the
white man came and took our country, our hearts are
heavy, men do not sing. When we have a meeting, if
young men fight it is the tronk [gaol] ; the tronk is killing
us. No. The master sees I am a child, and can touch this
as our children throw the spear and the bunguza."

" What was it the ancestors could do which you cannot
do ? "

" The master asks a foolish question to-day. He sits
here and smokes when I play. If he heard my father he
could not sit, he would dance."

" Was your father a great musician ? "

" Yes, to me ; but the old men when he was young would
say he was a child. He could not play like them."

" Do you know who made the first instrument like that?

Bantu Customs and Legends. 3 5 1

" No ; no one can tell. The spirits taught men long
ago. They are angry with their children, and show them
nothing now. It was not man who made this [playing a
few bars] ; and it is because the spirits do not speak to
singers that one cannot play The children are forgetting."

So the conversation would meander on with much sad-
ness and some truth ; for it is a fact that the old life is
passing away, and the new has not yet taken hold of the
popular imagination. Before we parted it was generally
asserted that the spirits would one day speak, and restore
the old order, when men would once more learn to sing as
do the gods.

Their lyrics are mostly in praise of ancestors, warriors,
cattle, the seasons and crops, rain, sunshine, domestic virtue
and valour. These the bards sing, adding a verse or alter-
ing a phrase to suit the occasion. I have heard old and
well-known verses so transformed as to be almost past
recognition, and that impromptu. These ditties the bards
sing and set to music ; and there is every reason to believe
that their music has the authority of thousands of years.
The dancing-steps of to-day are those depicted, as per-
formed by slaves, in wall-paintings of ancient Egypt, and
there seems no doubt that, then as now, they were danced
to the same musical notes, played on instruments identical
in form and melody to those of the present time.

There is one species of dance popular among Bushmen,
never indulged in by Bantu, to which some slight reference
may be made. It is called " Porrah", or Devil-dance, and
in the performance of which they work themselves into a
state of perfect frenzy, continuing till they fall down in a
kind of epileptic stupor. Of this they are relieved by being
pricked with sharp thorns or large pins. The dance may
be performed singly or by a number capering in concert,
and is always accompanied by smoking a weed known as
dara, which is really a species of hemp. When the pipe
is ready they sit down in a circle and each takes a single
pull. As the pipe goes round, first one and then another.

352 Bantu Customs and Legends.

and another, fall down into a kind of stupor which they
describe as an ecstasy of joy. The weed is a deadly poison,
and its continued use soon ends both dancing and joy.
Bantu tribes smoke it, but not in connection with their
dances. Few Europeans would care to make exhaustive
experiments with it, and the results of tentative trials are
not worth recording.

When men gather round the hut-fire in the evening, the
story-teller is always in requisition. He may relate his
own exploits, his deeds of daring, his loves, his thefts, and
feats of strength or endurance, and from these wander
into a region of fable and legend to wile the weary
hours away. With some, story-telling is reduced to one
of the fine arts, I had almost said, exact sciences.

I once had a camp-follower who was an adept at relating
incidents, in which he himself was made to figure as one
of the principal actors. I remember his relating a story
which is largely legendar)'-, founded upon events which
happened five generations before he was born, and winding
up by asking, with an air of innocent veracity : " Did the
master never hear I was one of Guluwe's companions ?"

The story was this : Guluwe was a renowned hunter
and warrior. He and two companions killed an eland
while hunting in the Amatole forests, and as they proceeded
to clean the beast, they found themselves surrounded by
an army of Bushmen. Between the Bushmen and the
Bantu there was mortal enmity : war to the knife.
Guluwe promised his captors a large quantity of dara if
they spared his life, and offered to send his companions
for the coveted weed. To this they agreed. Guluwe,
knowing their treachery, directed his companions not to
return.

The following day the Bushmen all slept, being over-
come with their feasting on the flesh of the eland, while
waiting for the messengers. The prisoner watched his
opportunity, and slew them one by one till he came to
their captain, whom he awoke, and said, " Guluwe's two

Bantu Cii,stoms and Legends. 353

of yesterday have come", hence the popular Kaffir phrase
for one who never returns, " Hke Guluwe's two of yester-
day".

My friend told me the " story of the wonderful horns"
as a local tale of East Griqualand. Mr. Theal had it as a
Gaika legend among the people near Lovedale, and Dr.
Hahn heard a version of it in Damaraland. The story
runs as I heard it — in Mr. Theal's version the animal is a
domestic ox — something to this effect : A very beautiful
antelope came grazing near a village where a boy was
herding cattle. It spoke to the bo}^ and asked him to
mount on its back. The boy did so, and then the creature
galloped swiftly over the plain, till the boy's home was far
out of sight.

Towards afternoon he felt hungry, and began to cry.
He could not get off the creature's back, and concluded
he was lost. He did his best to stop the animal, and at
last struck one of its horns with a wand he had in his
hand. Food came out of the horn, and he began to eat.
It comforted him, so that he ceased to cry. At last he
fell asleep, and when he awoke the sun was set. The
antelope still galloped on, but now it was very fatigued
and made hardly any progress. At last it lay down to
die, but, before it expired, it spoke to the boy and asked
him to take the horns and keep them all his life. This
he did. When it was quite dark, he spoke to the horns,
and a blanket came out of them, so he slept comfortably
in the blanket. Whatever he fancied came out of the
horns.

At last he came to a village where there was a girl he
loved. She refused to marry him. He spoke to the horns,
and they brought the girl to where he slept. He married
her, and when he spoke to the horns, the ground was hoed
for seed, and the pots were filled with beer. That boy
became a great man, all by means of the wonderful
horns.

Nearly allied to this is the story of the bird that made

VOL. HI. A A

354 Bantu Customs and Legends.

milk. It has often been told, and the following version
differs in no essential from those that have already been
published by Mr. Theal. It is as follows : A man and
his wife went to hoe a garden ; they hoed all day. At
night a bird came and said, " Garden, be mixed again."
Next day the garden was all as if it had not been touched.
They worked that day, and the result was the same. The
third day the man watched all night in the garden, and
caught the bird. He took it home and it made milk. He
was very poor, and his children began to grow fat eating
the milk. The neighbours wondered how they were so
fat, when their father was so poor. One day, when he was
away, other children asked them. They replied, " We eat
the milk father's bird makes."

" Let us see the bird," said they. The children showed
them the bird in its cage.

" Will he make milk for us ?" was the next question.
" Father's bird make milk for our companions ?"
" Yes," said the bird, " if you set me at the fire-
place."

They set it at the fireplace, and it made milk.
" Father's bird make more milk for us?"
" Yes, if you bring me to the door."

They brought it to the door, and then it flew away, and
was never more seen. The man and his wife were now as
poor as ever, having lost the wonderful bird that made the
milk.

The Damara legend of the origin of men and animals is
told with as many variations among the Bantu as there are
tribes. One version is as follows: When men and animals
came out of a tree as from the womb of nature, all around
was darkness black as midnight. A man kindled a fire,
and then all the animals scattered and fled. This is why
animals still fear fire, and why men kindle it to scare
them away at night. The animals fear man only because
he knows how to make fire, and but for this none of them
would run away from him.

Banhi Customs and Legends. 355

To the same category as the above belongs the legend
of the hoop-snake. This creature, when pursuing its prey
downhill, puts its tail in its mouth and rolls away, like a
child's hoop, with incredible velocity. Hardy story-tellers
have seen the creature skipping along " faster than a horse
could gallop".

Snakes, however, do not have it all their own way, for
there was once upon a time a doctor, who, when called to
exercise his art at any place, could summon all the reptiles
in the neighbourhood to appear before him, and then set
them to fight one another for the purpose of mutual
extermination. Less successful than St. Patrick, he has
left a plentiful crop behind him for his successors to
practise upon.

There are legends connected with all the wild creatures
found in the country. The crocodile " has no tongue",
nothing but jaws and teeth; and this is how leviathan is
condemned to go tongueless : When it and the iguana,
a species of land lizard measuring three to four feet when
full grown, and with a long forked tongue, were made,
two tongues were made and placed at a distance from them.
They were then told to run a race, and the first to arrive
was to have both. The iguana won, and his larger and
more savage rival had to be content " with a stump in its
throat".

Baboons are the emblems of treachery ; " 'tis the foot of
a baboon," being the universal proverb for unfair dealing.
Still, baboons are supposed to protect females from lions
and other beasts of prey ; and a legend is told of a woman
who was lost in a forest ; night came, and lions roared.
Then the baboons gathered round her and protected her,
bringing her to a place of safety where they provided an
ample supply of milk and corn for her use. She lived
a long time with her strange companions, her friends
supposing her dead. She was at last restored to her
home, but, having learned the language of the baboons,
she went often to talk to them in the forest at night. At

356 Bantu Customs and Legends.

last she died, and the baboons barked and howled, mourn-
ing for her for many days.

To see an " incanti" is certain death ; so, too, to see
a " hili". At the same time stories inconsistent with such
general truths are common, especially regarding the latter,
who is very malevolent, but withal an amorous swain.
One at least fell among thieves in the prosecution of his
loves. Hence the common proverb, " You will feel what
Hili experienced." On one occasion he carried on an
intrigue with a woman he had caused to fall in love with
him. Her husband suspected that she was visited by
a hili, but for a long time he could find out nothing to
confirm his suspicions. At last he pretended to go on
a long journey, but returned in the middle of the night
with a number of friends. They quietly fastened all the
dogs at the door of the hut, and after that he went in and
kindled a light. As he anticipated, a hili was there. The
neighbours beat him, the dogs bit him, until at last he was
not able to move away from the house. They then tied
him on the woman's back and sent her away to wander with
ghosts and river-spirits for ever. Hili often milks the cows
when no one is watching them, and plays other tricks, in
which he never can be detected.

While we were living at Duff, a man was found dead
one morning close by the river's bank, not far from the
mission. It was clearly a case of suicide by poisoning,
but our native neighbours regarded it as a case of having
seen an incanti, and no one would approach the spot for
months. The pools were bewitched, haunted, bedevilled.
This circumstance led to my being told several legends
regarding our friend the incanti. I preserved none of
them in a complete form, but the following notes will
indicate their nature. An incanti once lived in a river
near a chief's house. One day his son saw it, and he
died. He sent the magicians and an army to the river.
They pelted it with stones ; the magicians cursed it ; the
women even cursed it. Next day the chief's bravest

BantiL C2tstoms and Legends. 357

general saw it, and he died. The chief called his magicians
and said : " How is this ? Did I not send you to the
river to drive away the incanti ?" They said, " Yes." He
then told them that the general was dead, and shut them
up in a house till they died. No one would go to the river.
Then a doctor came from a far people on a visit, and,
when he heard it, he said, " Show me where the incanti is."
On being shown, he made medicine, and put it in the
river where the incanti dwelt. Then there was a great
noise and darkness, and no one ever saw that incanti
again. The doctor married the chief's daughter and was
a great man among that people. Several other legends
illustrating the cunning of the incanti were told at the
same time, but the above is a fair specimen of village talk
after such an event as a sudden death or suicide.

To show how rapidly historical events become legendary
among Africans, one has but to turn to the events of the
early wars of the present century, and in regard to which
much authentic history has been written.

I had often heard the phrase, " Like the coming of
Nkele", before I understood its meaning, applied to any-
thing long delayed, or which the speaker believed never
would happen. Now Nkele — the left-handed — or more
properly Makana, was perhaps the most remarkable man
that Kaffirland has produced. In a land where the ruling
caste is regarded as a sacred order, he rose from the ranks by
sheer force of character and sterling merit to be the leader of
one of the most powerful combinations that ever opposed
the English in their progress eastwards from the Cape.
During the early years of the second decade of the century
he was the foremost man in Africa. He led his men against
English troops supported by artillery, and only when the
flower of his force were mown down did he retire from the
conflict. When all was lost he voluntarily surrendered him-
self to the English commander, as he could thereby secure
more favourable terms for his countrymen. He was tried,
and sent as a prisoner of State to Robben Island in Table

358 BantiL Customs and Legends.

Bay. In attempting to escape the boat was swamped and
Makana was drowned. Meantime his countrymen regarded
him as invulnerable and immortal, and refused to believe
that he was dead. All through the wars between 1835 and
185 1 they looked for his reappearance to lead them to
victory, and to this day many of them will solemnly assert
that Makana is not dead. The injunctions he laid upon
his countrymen nearly a century ago are obeyed as if they
were the words of a god. Before his time none except
chiefs and their immediate relatives were buried. Makana
ordered his troops to bury their fallen comrades as having
perished in their country's cause. This led to sepulture
becoming common. Now it is universal.

To thousands he is still the living man, or demi-god, and
they relate legends of persons who saw him, and on whom
he laid fresh injunctions not ten years ago. His personal
effects and ornaments are, or at least were a short while
ago, preserved waiting his coming, and men born decades
after his death were ready, at an hour's notice, to throw cff
their allegiance to native chief or English Government, and
follow his standard to victory or to death. From one point
of view such devotion is very beautiful ; from another it
illustrates the vast distance there is between Western civili-
sation and African barbarism.

Such are a few of the legends current among a people
whose ways were to me very familiar, and who often in the
most unexpected manner remind one of the friends of his
youth in the legends of ancient Greece and Rome.
Whether any of them took their rise from a common
origin it is impossible even to guess, but if not, then it is
clear that man's habits of thought do not differ so largely
as at firstfsight appears, and that from certain primitive
ideas, common to the human race, grew the ancient civili-
sations of East and West, as well as the more modern
developments of our own times.

That I am not able to give the legends in more minute
detail is owing to the reason already stated. No one can

Bantu Customs and Legends. 359

be more sensible than I am of the inadequate conception
this paper gives of a subject of engrossing interest. Should
I ever have to return once more to Africa, it will be some-
thing more than the mere conventional pleasure to collect
and arrange legends and sayings that are fast passing into
an oblivion from which they can never be recovered again
to the world.

James Macdonald.

IMPORTANCE DU FOLK-LORE POUR
LES ETUDES UANCIEN FRANCAIS.

DEPUIS dix ans I'etude de rancien-frangais est entree
dans une ere nouvelle ; elle s'est elargie et comme
rencuvelee au contact d'une autre discipline qui, vieille
comme le monde, puisqu'elle a passionne les Anciens, a
trouve son propre rajeunissement dans la curiosite de
quelques erudits allemands et d'un ou deux philosophes
anglais. Cette discipline, s'il n'y a quelque ironie a lui
donner un nom qu'elle est loin de meriter toujours, est
la science du folk-lore, et c'est pourquoi, dans une revue
consacree a cette science, nous pouvons parler d'ancien-
fran^ais, sans trop nous aventurer sur les confins du hors-
d'oeuvre.

Les Allemands ont appele Realien les recherches con-
sacrees aux usages, aux institutions, aux croyances et, en
general, a toutes les formes de la vie organisee, telles que
nous les observons dans les textes litteraires. L'epopee, le
roman breton et le roman d'aventure, la lyrique, les fabliaux
ont done leurs Realien, au Moyen Age, comme Homere et
Hesiode les ont en Grece, et comme Virgile, Horace et
Lucain les possedent chez les Romains. II va de soi que la
philologie germanique n'a rien a envier, a cet egard, a sa
sceur romane ; on ne compte plus les dissertations, dont les
auteurs etudient Tun ou I'autre point de la Ktilturgeschidite
dans les Nibelimgen} dans Gudrun et chez les auteurs cour-
tois du XIII* siecle. Plus heureuse que nous, I'Allemagne
peut meme s'enorgueillir des travaux de M. Karl Weinhold,'

1 Un travail recent de M. Lichtenberger {Le pohne et la legende des
Nibelimgen, Paris, 1891) fait une part serieuse k i'etude des Realien.
^ Altnordisches Lcbeii — Die deutsche Frauen im Mittelaltcr.

hnportance du Folk-lore. 361

de M. Alwin Schultz^ et dc bien d'autres, c'est-a-dire
d'esquisses plus generales dont les contours larges et
humains trahissent un esprit philosophique, sans prejudice
pour I'exactitude du detail et la variete de I'information.
M. Schultz n'est meme pas un etranger pour nous, car il a
egalement mis a contribution nos vieux textes et des cita-
tions de Rolland, d' Ogier om encore des romanciers en vogue
du Xir et du XIIP siecles coudoient dans ses notes les pas-
sages de poetes tudesques du meme temps. Ce procede
n'est pas irreprochable et c'est a peine s'il faut en donner la
raison. Sans doutes les ceuvres courtoises de Wolfram
d'Eschenbach et de Hartmann von der Aue sont nees de
I'imitation de nos ecrivains, et il n'est pas jusqu'au Thiois
Veldeke qui n'ait les plus serieuses obligations a ces derniers.
Mais qui ne devine qu'en transportant chez cux nos poemes,
qu'en transposant et le rythme et la langue et toutes les
petites habiletes d'une technique, d'autant plus compliquee
qu'elle etait embryonnaire, les trouveurs allemands etaient
condamnes a bien des alterations dictees par le genie de leur
race et leur propre genie ; ajoutez a cela le sans-gene des
modifications les plus profondes, qui n'a d'egal en ce temps
que le sans-gene du plagiat, des mceurs non essentiellement
differentes, mais modelees toutefois par des conditions de
vie individuelle, de rapports sociaux, de climat et de nature
plutot dissemblables. Des contradictions ne sont done pas
rares entre les modeles frangais et leurs imitateurs germains,
et ces contradictions sont parfois sensibles dans les etudes
de M. Schultz, au point qu'il en retient ses conclusions et
nous laisse avec lui dans de facheuses et inutiles incertitudes.
Mieux valait, semblera-t-il toujours, ne considerer qu'un des
aspects de ce vaste domaine et, dans les seuls cas ou, le trait
^tant ferme et definitivement trace, I'image qu'on nous
presentait ne risquait pas d'etre alteree, s'autoriser tout
au plus d'un parallele qui venait confirmer I'impression
regue.

Une autre question est soulevee par Iec6te-a-c6te 011 nous

^ Hofisches Leden sicr Zeit der Minnesinger, 2 voll., 2' ed. 1S91.

362 Importance du Folk-lore pour

decouvrons dans ses references les textes historiques et les
ceuvres d'imagination. Encore une fois il fallait opter, k
notre sens, entre des documents d'un caractere si dissem-
blable. L'essence meme de la poesie est de depasser la
mesure du reel, de substituer sa vision, grossie par une sorte
d'ivresse perpetuelle, a I'exacte notation des choses,^ telle
qu'on I'exigerait d'un temoin impersonnel et, pour ainsi dire^
indifferent. En fait, il n'en est pas necessairement ainsi ; ce
temoin, s'il est Villehardouin ou Joinville, ne garde pas
toujours la mesure voulue dans ses peintures et ses affirma-
tions ; de meme s'il est proche des evenements qu'il a chantes,
comme c'est le cas pour le trouveur a qui nous devons, par
exemple, Raoiil de Cambrai, I'artiste tend a s'inspirer plus
directement des spectacles qu'il a eus sous les yeux ou que
lui ont retrace I'un ou I'autre des acteurs encore en vie. La
distance n'en reste pas moins considerable entre les devoirs
du chroniqueur, meme du plus imaginatif, et les licences du
poete, meme du plus respectueux des faits, et nous ne
croyons pas qu'on puisse combiner leurs recits.

II etait done inevitable que des recherches nouvelles
fussent instituees, n'ayant qu'un seul et meme objectif, et il
est plaisant de constater que la litterature a groupe sur ce
terrain des pionniers plus nombreux et d'une abnegation
plus perseverante que I'histoire proprement dite. On peut
le proclamer sans injustice, les etudes historiques n'ont pas
encore trouve, si ce n'est chez quelques hommes dont les
efforts se sont consumes dans I'isolement, leur veritable
orientation dans le sens social. Elles ont debute par des
biographies de rois et des recits de batailles ; puis elles
ont ete dirigees par des preoccupations philosophiques,

^ En veut-on un exemple precis ? Nous I'empruntons a Tune des
dissertations dont on trouvera bientot le detail, celle de M. Sternberg.
Celui-ci constate (p. 44) les exagerations conscientes auxquelles se
livrent les auteurs de chansons dans la description des armes offensives,
que portent les guerriers sarrazins : leur but ctait, dit-il, de faire
d'autant mieux ressortir la valeur triomphante des Chretiens. M.
Schirling reprend (p. 11) pour son compte cette observation dans
I'etude qu'il a consacree aux armes defensives dans I'epopde.

les Etudes cVancien Franfais. 363

juridiques ou, enfin, economiques. La vie populaire, dans
son ampleur et son infinie complexite, est presque toujours
restee etrangere a I'ideal de I'historien. Elle comporte
I'etude des idees, des sentiments et des croyances plus
encore que celle des moeurs et des usages ; mais ni I'une ni
I'autre de ces etudes n'a ete poursuivie jusqu'ici avec le zele
discipline qu'on apportait a d'autres taches. Seuls peut-
etre les documents litteraires ont, quoiqu'ils soient souvent
les plus pauvres en temoignages de I'espece, eveille une
activite dont nous considererons bientot quelques resultats.
Encore est-il a regretter que cette activite se soit manifestee
sous des formes plus sinceres que raisonnees. On n'a pas
toujours associe ce qui devait I'etre ; on a souvent combine
les elements les plus disparates. Dans ces deux beaux
volumes de M. Schultz sur la vie courtoise au temps des
Minnesinger, n'est-il pas question des moeurs et des diver-
tissements rustiques? N'y decouvre-t-on pas aussi (i, 211)
quelques pages sur "I'ideal de beaute et de laideur", qui
ne se rattachent guere aux precedentes ; enfin n'est-il pas
tout un chapitre sur I'homme " moral" de cette epoque, qui
est de trop si I'ouvrage n'a d'autre but que de decrire la
civilisation materielle, qui est vraiment bien peu de chose
si M. Schultz a voulu retracer I'histoire des idees et des
sentiments ? Cette histoire est a peine ebauchee jusqu'ici
pour le M. Age, et il serait temeraire de dire qu'elle soit
definitivement ecrite pour les derniers siecles. Mais ce que
nous jugeons inadmissible, c'est qu'on la separe de I'etude
attentive et detaillee des procedes litteraires etde I'esthetique
de nos vieux auteurs. Leur rhctorique est la principale
source a consulter ici ; et il faut com.prendre sous cette
rubrique d'^cole la description, I'allusion, les sentences
et proverbes, les dialogues, etc. Que de revelations nous
promettent encore les axiomes et les aphorismes formules
par les trouveurs des xir et Xlll= siecles ! Les allusions
nous eclairent sur leur propre histoire, sur leur gout et sur
leur erudition relative ; et quant aux descriptions, soit
morales, soit physiques, nous essayerons d'indiquer plus

364 Importance du Folk-lore pour

tard le precieux appoint qu'ellcs constituent pour I'histoire
des genres dans I'ancienne litterature. Deja plusieurs
maitres allemands ont compris I'importance des etudes
stylistiques (qu'il faut bien se garder de confondre avec les
appreciations sur le style, cet exercice perilleux ou le gout
individuel devient aisement de I'arbitraire, et ou les
Frangais a peu pres seuls ont excelle depuis La Harpe).
De la les dissertations de MM. Grosse, Borner, Heinrich,
etc., auxquelles nous nous plaisons a ajouter un serieux
essai de M. Binet, edite a Paris. Mais faisons abstraction
de ces recherches sur la technique de nos anciens poetes,
pour reparler de celles que la vie materielle, refletee dans
leurs ouvrages, a suscitees jusqu'ici. Ce n'est qu'oeuvre
juste de mentionner tout de suite M. Stengel, professeur
a Marbourg, et de nous occuper principalement des travaux
dus a son initiative. Certes M. Stengel n'est pas le
promoteur^ de I'etude des Realien, mais il est le premier
qui ait tente de discipliner toute une petite armee de
travailleurs, qui I'ait guidee dans ce champ d'explora-
tion, assignant a chacun une bande etroite a explorer,
n'autorisant incursion ni sur d'autres points de la meme
litterature, ni dans le domaine correspondant d'une autre
litterature, interdisant de meme toute reference aux
historiens et aux textes d'archives, et tolerant tout au plus
— en quoi il lui 6tait malaise de ne pas avoir tort — le cote-
a-c6te de citations empruntees a des ouvrages d'un meme
genre, mais distants de deux et meme de trois siecles."

^ Sans vouloir etendre cette note aux etudes sur I'antiquite, il est
permis de renvoyer aux bibliographies que donnent Bernhardy et
Teufifel. Deja les auteurs de VHisioire litteraire de la France
avaient, des le debut de ce siecle, dmailld leurs analyses de details
relevant de la science du folk-lore, et 5'a toujours ete I'heureuse tactique
de leurs continuateurs, notamment de Paulin Paris. E. Du Meril,
prdcurseur des tentatives les plus modernes sur tant de domaines, a
etudie les Realiefi des Loherains dans sa preface de la Mart Garin.

2 Inutile d'insister sur les desavantages de cette promiscuite dans
des questions d'archeologie ou meme de "sentiment". Les nuances
s'effacent et tout souci de revolution des ide'es, des usages et du goiit

Ics Etudes d' ancien Frangais. 365

II est resulte de la une vingtaine de dissertations^ de
valeur forcement inegale, mais dont la methode, inspiree

disparatt avec elles. II peut en etre autrement des traditions, et parti-
culierement de la tradition litteraire, si tenace, et si la meme a un
siecle ou deux pr^s. La methode historique aurait done mieux servi
M. Stengel, a notre sens, que celle qui repose sur une division arbitraire
comme Test celle des genres.

^ Voici la liste de ces dissertations que nous groupons de fagon
systematique, au lieu de suivre I'ordre dans lequel elles ont ete publiees
sous le titre coUectif de Ausgabe und Abhaftdlungen aits dem Gebiet
der romanischen Philologie (les numdros sont ceux de la collection) : —
La Vie : Paul Zeller, Die tagliche7i Lebensgewohnheiten ini altfranz.
Knrls-Epos (XLii) ; Theodor Krabbes, Die Fran im altfrz. Karls-
Epos (xviii) ; Max Winter, Kleidimg tend Puts der Fran tiach den
altfrz. Chajtsons de geste (xLv). Sentiments et Croyances :
Richard Mentz, Die Triiume in de?i altfrz. Karls- ntid Artns-Epen
(LXXiil) ; Johannes Altona, Gebete nnd Anrufungen in den altfrz.
Chansons de geste (ix) ; Gottfried Kentel, Die Ayirnfteng der fwheren
Wesen in deft altfrz. Ritterromatien (XLVi). Guerre et Chasse :
Aron Sternberg, Die Angriffszuajfen ini altfrz. Epos (XLViii) ; Victor
Schirling, Die Verteidignngswaffen im altfrz. Epos (lxix) ;
Volkmar Bach, Die Angriffsivaffen in den altfrz. Artus- nnd Aben-
tenerromanen (lxx) ; Adolf Kitze, Das Ross in den altfranz. Artns-
und Abenteuerromaiien (lxxv). Lecheval dans I'epopee a dte etudie,
avec les autres animaux, par Friedrich Bangert, Die Tiere ini altfrz.
Epos (xxxiv) ; Ernst Bormann, Die fagd in den altfrz. Artus- imd
Abenteuerromanefi (lxviii). Institutions : August Euler, Das
Konigtnm im altfrz. Karls-Epos. A cette derniere categorie pour-
raient se rattacher une dissertation toute recente, que je n'ai pas
encore eue sous les yeux : Fr. Meyer, Die Stdnde dargestellt ?tach deti
altfrz. Artus- und Abenteuerromatjen (lxxxix), et deux dissertations
de Halle sur les usages relatifs au bapteme et aux ambassades dans
I'anc. poesie frang. On voit que des sub-divisions importantes des
Realien ont dte systematiquement ecartees par M. Stengel ; tout ce
qui concerne le style (exception faite d'une these de M. Heinrich
sur le Roitian de la Rose et de deux travaux sur les proverbes et
sentences dans I'epopde et le roman, N""- xxill et XLix), aussi bien
que I'esthetique des chansons et des romans, ne semble avoir dte
I'objet d'aucune etude. En revanche MM. Grosse, R. Borner et
d'autres ont consacre k Chretien, h. Raoul de Houdenc, au Tornoie-
ment d'Antechrist^ etc., d'utiles monographies ; en France, signalons
la recente brochure de M. Binet sur le style des pontes lyriques au
XII* et au xiii^ si^cles (Paris, Bouillon, 1891). Deux dtudes de M.

J

66 Importance dit Folk-lo7'e pour

par le maitre, ne varie point. Que faut-il penser de ces
dissertations ? Sont-elles de veritables contributions a
I'histoire des XII^ et Xlll^ siecles ? Non, certes. Mais elles
rendront de serieux services au futur historien de notre
ancienne litterature ; elles sont, en effet, executees sur un
plan commode et dans une forme qui facilite le depart, si
malaise en lui-meme, entre les elements poetiques et les
donnees vraies. Chaque detail, accompagne d'un ou des
passages justificatifs, est trie, mis a part, et il a ou sa rubri-
que particuliere, ou sa place distincte dans I'expose. Un
onomasticon, qui nous a paru complet, permet de retrouver
sans effort ce detail dans la brochure ou Ton doit presumer
qu'il est inscrit.

Reste le cote littcraire, qu'il serait injustifiable de perdre
de vue dans une entreprise comme celle-ci. II faut bien
reconnaitre qu'il est fort neglige par les Aleves de M.
Stengel. Faut-il en rendre responsable ce dernier, plutot
erudit qu'ecrivain et voue de preference a des taches
bibliographiques 1^ Ou bien les insuffisances du gout

Settegast sur le sentiment de I'honneur {Zcitschrift fiir roina/t.
Philologie, ix, et Leipzig, 1887) et une these de Robert Paul Kettner
(^Der Ehrbcgriff in d. altfrz. Arttisromanen, Leipzig, Richter,
1890) inaugurent une enquete dont il n'est pas necessaire de faire
ressortir I'intdret. L'esthetique du Moyen Age a dej^ attire I'atten-
tion d'un certain nombre d'drudits. Signalons la dissertation de
Jean Loubier, Das Ideal der mdnnlichen Schonheit bei d. altfrz.
Dichtern des xn U7td x.ui Jakrhunderis, qui donne la bibliographic du
sujet et une these, de Marbourg encore, qui est de date tout-k-fait
recente : O. Voigt, Das Ideal der Schonheit iind Hdsslichkeit in den
altfrz. Chansons de Geste (Ausg. Abh.).

^ L'observation ne s'applique pas a un seul maitre, mais k la
plupart des romanistes allemands. Les etranges preferences estheti-
ques, dont M. Forster a temoigne recemment dans sa polemique avec
M. G. Paris sur les origines du roman breton, n'ont done rien qui doive
nous surprendre. Juge-t-il ce Gautier d'Arras qu'il est en train d'editer
dailleurs con amore, le professeur de Bonn trouvera des expressions
inattendues pour caractdriser son mepris ; il parlera de sa " unge-
schichte, sprachlich saloppe(!) und iiberaus seichte erzahlungsweise",
et si I'on se risque a trouver quelque mdrite a Raoul de Houdenc, il
s'emporte et le proclame I'imitateur lourd et ennuyeux de Chretien
{Erec En., p. xii, note 2). Apres cela il faut tirer I'echelle.

les Etudes cCancien Frangais. 367

individuel de chaque etudiant ne sont-elles pas ici la
raison dominante? Quoi qu'il en soit, la lecture de ces
dissertations, deja fatigante par la nature meme du sujet
traits, devient tout-a-fait penible dans la forme qu'elles
ont regue de leurs auteurs. Ce sont moins des etudes
personnelles que des catalogues raisonnes, et Ton y
explore vingt pages sans y decouvrir parfois une simple
observation, attestant quelque finesse ou un jugement
reflechi.

Nous nous bornerons a un ou deux exemples. M. Mentz,
qui a etudie les songes avec un grand luxe de details
et qui egare son sujet dans des subdivisions indefinies, a
parfois d'etranges naivetes. A-t-il observe que les femmes
ont des reves frequents dans I'epopee? II se hatera d'en
conclure que cela tient au haut rang qu'elles occupent dans
la societe du temps (p. 21) ; il ne s'est meme pas demande,
au cours de recherches longues et intr^pides, si la nature
plus impressionnable des femmes n'expliquait pas a suf-
fisance cette particularite trop reelle dans la vie et, par
ricochet, dans la litterature. Si Athalie fait un songe
chez Racine, ce n'est apparemment pas parcequ'elle est
reine et fille de roi ! M. Winter n'est pas plus heureux
dans mainte interpretation des textes qu'il a conscien-
cieusement rassembles. Apres avoir constate que les
femmes restaient ordinairement^ pieds nus le matin chez
elles, il remarque que dans Girard de Roiissillon la reine se
rend a I'eglise non chaussee un jour de grande solennit^ ;
mais il fallait donner la raison d'humilite chretienne, pour
laquelle elle le fait, et ne pas mettre ensemble des
temoignages aussi disparates. P. 39 de la meme dissertation
nous nous heurtons a cette profonde reflexion, apostillee
d'un texte: "Lorsqu'on s'etait echauffe, on s'cnveloppait
d'un manteau pour ne pas prendre froid." Mieux vaut un
simple catalogue qu'une glose aussi puerile !

Ce qui est plus grave encore, les erreurs de fait ne sont
pas plus rares dans cette collection que les erreurs de gout.

^ II cite deux passages seulement (p. 13).

o

68 Importance dii Folk-lore pour

Nous n'insistons pas sur les omissions, qui sont en general
peu nombreuses et tiennent plutot a letroitesse du plan
des auteurs qu'a un manque d'attention et de scrupule.
Mais que de petites inexactitudes dans la lecture et I'inter-
pretation des textes ! On voit avec stupeur M. Sternberg,
exhumant un passage oublie de Roquefort, identifier le
frangais moderne chavibres (detonations) avec la vieille forme
tambre (ou cambre?) qui signifie un "trait" dans Gonnojtd.
Eh quoi ! I'auteur inconnu de ce poeme respectable aurait-il
invente la poudre et meme les balles explosibles ? D'un
autre cote il est regrettable que M. Mentz, au travail de qui
nous nous plaisons a revenir, n'ait pu connaitre les recentes
etudes publiees par la Romania et les Roma^iische ForscJi-
tmgen sur les visions du Moyen Age ; ajoutons qu'il separe
ces dernieres des songes avec un soin judicieux. II aurait
du utiliser toutefois I'interessant conte de Guillauuie
d'Engletcrrc^ et tirer egalement parti des versions de Bazin,
dont la plus curieuse peut-etre est le Carl attd Elegast
neerlandais.-

Les travaux relatifs aux animaux et particulierement
au cheval, ainsi que les trois etudes deja indiquees sur
les armes offensives et defensives, appartiennent moins
nettement au groupe dont nous voudrions faire ressortir ici
I'interet folk-lorique. Quelques proverbes, comparaisons et
locutions dans lesquelles apparaissent le cheval, le chien,
le lion, etc., ne sont qu'un maigre butin pour la paremio-
logie. En revanche I'histoire litteraire devra mettre a
contribution ces brochures, et elle pourra en tirer un
serieux profit. Elle ne devra pas negliger non plus les
recherches sur I'etat social et sur la vie publique et privee.

1 Notamment pp. 9 et 24, note i.

' Nous reviendrons dans un prochain article sur la question des
songes proprement dits dans I'ancienne litterature frangaise ; il est en
effet tout un cote du sujet rested en friche, celui des presages, tires des
reves qu'on faisait. Un petit traite d'interpretation des songes et sa
version romane, inedite jusqu'ici, seront donnes en appendice de ce
deuxi^me article.

les Etudes cT ancien Fra?ifais. 369

Ces recherches, basees sur les seules ceuvres d'imagination,
seront toujours suspectes aux erudits, et a juste titre. Ellas
contiennent pourtant des resultats qui ont leur prix. L'his-
toire vraie n'est pas seule a nous offrir un processtis logique
et jamais interrompu ; I'histoire poetique a le sien, dont la
logique est parfois plus ostensible encore. Les conceptions
des hommes peuvent-elles se derober aux lois d'heredite et
d'ambiance ? Pas plus que leurs ouvrages, sans doute.
Eh bien, cette suite logique dans les idees, ce progres
constant dans leur expression, cet affinement de la sensi-
bilite litteraire qu'on ne peut meconnaitre, lorsqu'on pro-
cede de I'epopee aux imitations de I'antiquit^, et de celles-ci
au roman de Thomas et de Chretien, I'etude des Realien
nous en revele I'origine, les lois, la gradation plus ou moins
lente ; elle degrossit ainsi les materiaux d'une histoire
definitive — si tant est qu'oeuvre humaine le soit — de notre
ancienne litterature fran(jaise. Et comment, sans elle, sup-
plier a I'absence quasi-complete de renseignements sur la
vie de nos premiers ecrivains, sur le milieu intellectuel ou
ils se sont epanouis et sur la nature du public auquel ils
devaient plaire ?

Apres M. Krabbes, qui a etudie la femme dans I'epopee
frangaise, M. Winter s'est preoccupe de son luxe et de sa
coquetterie. II I'a fait sans rien de piquant et avec la meme
sagesse d'appreciation, le meme mepris des nuances, que son
devancier. Pourtant que de points de vue changeants
et que de points de vue eternellement fixes il pouvait
nous offrir ici, apres les avoir contempl^s lui-meme !
Retenons des travaux de MM. Krabbes et Winter un
trait essentiel de differenciation entre I'epopee et le roman.
L'heroine des chansons est ignorante ou sa science est plus
faite pour nous derouter que pour nous plaire : elle connait
les simples, I'astronomie, les formules et recettes magiques.
La femme de Chretien est plus cultivee ; elle sait lire,^ et si
elle s'occupe encore de

1 V. Yvain, 5364-6; P. Paris, RomaJtcero franqais, p. 46. Pour le
xnie siecle les exemples ne se comptent plus.

VOL. III. B B

370 Importance du Folk-lore pour

". . . . filer, cosdre et tailler,"^

elle a des recherches d'elegance, une esthetique embryon-
naire et un art de plaire et de donoier^- qui sont inconnus
a sa soeur ainee. II faudrait ajouter qu'elle n'a point perdu
le gout des sciences occultes, mais qu'elle ne daigne plus
en faire I'occupation de ses longues heures de nonchalant
loisir. Deja Didon, dans Etteas, a recours a I'experience
d'une sorciere et c'est la " maistre"^ de Fenice, qui lui
prepare le philtre destine a la laisser pure entre les bras de
son mari.

Rest une derniere etude qui n'a pas, a mon su, ete abordee

^ Eneas, v. 7085, passage que M. Krabbes aurait, s'il I'avait connu,
pu rapprocher de ceux qu'il emprunte fort judicieusement k Renaiid de
Montauban et a Raoul de Cambrai.

2 Un de mes eleves prepare une dissertation sur la femme dans la
societe des xii^-xnP si^cles. De mes lectures il m'est reste un doute
serieux sur la delicatesse de cette petite elite qui semble alors dominer,
au haut de I'echelle sociale, la grossi^rete ordinaire des moeurs et
des propos. Rappelons le langage intraduisible dans lequel I'un des
auteurs de Tristan fait se disculper Yseut devant les rois Marc et
Artus et les deux cours reunies, le reproche immonde fait k Eneas,
reproduit par une femme, Marie de France, dans Lanval, 279 ss., et
mis par elle dans la bouche d'une autre reine. Si nous interrogeons
la geste elle nous menage d'autres surprises. Le tastonnagc, la
sensualite toujours en eveil des jeunes filles payennes et chretiennes,
I'impudeur qui preside k des ceremonies sacrees, comme celle du
bapteme d'une sarrazine, tout cela nous revele un etat de civilisation
bien rudimentaire encore et voisin de la nature. V. aussi d'interessantes
observations de M. G. Paris {Romania^ xix, 332) k propos des Realieit
d'un texte de la fin du xil« sifecle.

^ Cliges, 3002, ss. Le type de la "maistre" a ete sans doute em-
prunte au roman de Troiej il se perpetue k travers les siecles apr^s
avoir fourni quelques types k Chretien (Lunate, Tessala) et Jean de
Meun (LaVieille dans Rom. Rose) le leguera k Regnier {Macette). II
est encore vrai aujourd'hui, la sorciire d'Eneas n'est autre que ces
vieilles, bigotes et magiciennes, qui jettent des sorts aux enfants et aux
animaux et que nos paysans wallons, comme nos faubouriens de Li^ge
et d'ailleurs, ont fletri d'un nom significatif, celui de makral (maque-
relle). L'on salt le role qu'elles jouent dans les superstitions et les
contes populaires.

les Etudes cTancien Fra^ifais. 371

jusqu'ici. La description de rhomme/ celle de ranimal, ne
sont pas les seules que nous offre I'ancienne litterature. La
peinture des lieux qui sont le theatre de ses recits n'a pas
ete negligee totalement par nos vieux poetes. II y a la une
tache que nous recommandons avec chaleura I'etudiant, qui
aura une ambition plus haute que celle de mettre sur pied
un simple catalogue methodique Les descriptions emprun-
tees a la nature sont d'une singuliere pauvret6 dans I'epopee ;
sans etre abondantes ni varices, elles sont, au contraire, chez
Chretien I'echo d'un sentiment deja personnel. Le passage
celebre de Perceval ou celui-ci s'hypnotise dans la contem-
plation du contraste de la neige avec I'aile noire du corbeau
et les gouttelettes de sang rose, n'appartient peut-etre pas
tout entier a Chretien ; du moins celui-ci a-t-il eu I'art de
I'encadrer parfaitement et de lui faire produire tout son effet.
C'est encore Chretien qui, parlant de la nuit tombante, dira
qu'elle " a revetu sa chape et sa couverture".- Un peu plus
tard.le charmant trouveur a qui nous devons le lai AoX Ombre ^
aura ce bonheur d'expression :

" Li vermeus 11 monte en la face,
Et les larmes del cuer as ieus,

^ Et pas seulement la description proprement physique, mais aussi
celle de ses gestes, de sa maniere d'etre, de sentir, etc. Ce n'est pas ici
le lieu d'etudier de pres les indications que contiennent a cet egard la
geste et les romans. La premiere est bien pauvre en elements descriptifs
de cette sorte. De meme qu'elle ignore I'analyse morale des senti-
ments, de meme elle ne cherche point k en donner I'impression physique.
Ses heros s'arrachent les cheveux ou la barbe, dechirent leurs vete-
ments ou se pament dans les instants tragiques ; s'il s'agit de peindre
en eux une douleur moins exaltee, elle nous les montre la " main a la
maissele" {Aliscafts, 751 ; Gui Bgg., 943, etc.). Dans Aliscans,.
Guibors se leve toute en larmes :

"A son bliaut va ses iex essuant" (4041-2),

et Renouart dort " pance levee". Chretien n'ignore pas ces images,
elementaires (voyez par ex. Cltge's, 1378-9), mais il en fait un usage
dlscret et supplee k la pauvrete de sa palette par des monologues ou
des reflexions d'une remarquable finesse.
* Lancelot, 4942, ss.

B B 2

'Xt']2 Importance du Folk-lore pour

Si que li blans et li vermeus
L'en moille contreval le vis."^

11 serait interessant de faire le d^pouillement et I'histoire
de ces descriptions longtemps embryonnaires, puis d'une
perfection relative dans le roman courtois, puis indefine-
ment longues et d'une intolerable monotonie, aux XIII'-
XIV^ siecles, pour aboutir enfin a ces esquisses de Villon
qui ont la nettete de I'eau-forte et le charme de I'obser-
vation.2 Un tel sujet n'est indifferent ni pour le penseur
ni pour I'artiste. La sculpture du Xir et du XIII' siecle
ne pent pas s'etre derobee a I'influence de la conception
qu'on avait alors du geste et de toutes les attitudes, comma
la peinture doit etre mise en correlation avec le sentiment
de la nature que nous revelent les romans et les chansons.
Quelle place occupera Benoit, a cet egard, dans la s^rie de
nos trouveurs ? Sans prejuger les r^sultats d'une enquete
bien conduite, il est permis de se demander si I'auteur de
Troie n'est pas plus proche de I'ancienne geste que du roman
courtois. De la premiere il respecte encore les plus insi-
gnifiants poncifs ; il dira^ :

"Co fu el tens de ver le bel
Que dolcement chantent oisel

^ Lai de P Ombre, v, 480-3.

^ Citons du Petit Testame?tt (n) :

" morte saison
Lorsque les loups vivent de vent
Et qu'on se tient en sa maison,
Pour le frimas, pres u tison."
Des pauvres Villon dira d'un trait :

" Les autres mendient tous nudz
Et payn ne voyent qu'aux fenestres."

{Gr. Test., xxx.)
Et d'une belle fille, que Page fietrit :

" Plus ne servirez qu'un vieil prestre
Ne que monnoye qu'on descrie."

{Belle Heauliniere.)
5 939, ss.

les Etudes d' ancien Frmigais,

O/ v>

Que la flor paroist blanche et bale
Et I'erbe verz, fresche et novele
Et li vergier sont gent fiori,
Et de lor follies revesti,
L'ore dolce vente soef,"

allongeant tout au plus de quelques traits timides la
formule eternelle des trouveurs pour caracteriser le prin-
temps. Mais deja dans Eneas la description d'un marche
et celle d'une tempete, reminiscence virgilienne, marquent
un leger progres ; cette tempete, nous la retrouvons dans
Yvain} dans Ginllaume d Engleterre^ et dans Tristan^ avec
un luxe de developpements, qui nous avertissent que
nous venons d'entrer dans une ere nouvelle.* Dans le
Lancelot le paysage ccsse d'etre indifferent'' et il en sera

^ 440, ss. 2 p_ j^o. 3 £(^ Yx. Michel, ii, 1592.

* II est juste d'ajouter que Wace a d^jk une description de tempete
dans la Conceptiojt N. Dajne; voyez sur ce point Holland, Chrestienv.
Troycs.

* Citons encore un curieux passage du Lancelot, 6983 et sv., ou se
trouve la premiere description d'un paysage, dont j'aie garde souve-
nance, dans I'ancienne littdrature fran^aise :

" En la lande un(s) sagremor ot
Si bel que plus estre ne pot ;
Molt tenoit place, molt ert lez,
S'ert tot antor selonc orlez
De menue erbe fresche et bele,
Qui en toz tans estoit novele.
Soz le sagremor gent et bel,
Qui fu plantez del tans Abel,
Sort une clere fontenelle
Qui de corre est assez isnele.
Li graviers ert et biax et genz
Et clers con se ce fust argenz,
Et Ii tuiax, si con ge cuit,
De fin or esmere et cuit.
Et cort parmi la lande aval
Antre deus bois, parmi un val."

Abstraction faite du v. 6984 qui appartient au bagage de I'epopde, et
des chevilles maladroites des vv. 6990 et 6965, nous avons I^i
petit tableau parfait.

374 Importance du Folk-lore.

de meme dans le Perceval, ou la palme revient pourtant aux
Enumerations complaisantes dont la vie seigneuriale four-
nissait par son luxe de table et d'ameublement le pretexte
trop naturel. II faut done esperer d'une telle recherche la
confirmation de vues exposees ailleurs.^ Ces vues, si nous
sommes en droit de revendiquer pour elles une part d'origi-
nalite, ne la devront-elles pas au groupement de quelques
donnees qu'il appartient a I'avenir detendre et de mieux
controler? Plusieursdeces donnees.nous esperons le montrer
bientot, sont le fruit des etudes dont nous avons indique
les titres, et c'est en vue d etudes semblables que nous avons,
au fil de la lecture, amasse les autres. II y a la une mine
de renseignements qui ne le cede, en precision ni en abon-
dance, aux biographies, aux memoires et aux journaux des
trois derniers siecles. C'est par la patiente et fastidieuse
classification des figures de style, des traits descriptifs de
toute sorte, meme des rimes accouplees de fagon ou d'autre,
qu'on arrivera a determiner revolution des genres au Moyen
Age, et tant que cette longue tache preparatoire n'aura
pas ete accomplie, toute une province de notre histoire
litteraire restera fermee a nos investigations. II n'est
que juste de reconnaitre la part de merite qui reviendra a
I'abnegation detudiants obscurs de Marbourg, de Halle
et d'ailleurs, si nous pouvons explorer quelque jour cette
province encore inconnue, afin d'en etablir la configuration.^

1 Moyen Age, 1891, p. 190. Elles seront reprises et discut^es dans
un prochain travail sur Chretien.

^ Je n'ai rien dit des dissertations de MM. Kentel et Altona qui se
compl^tent I'une I'autre et ont un interet reel pour I'histoire du culte.
D'autres coins de ce vaste domaine, les jeux et les divertissements popu-
laires, la medecine, les superstitions relatives aux animaux, aux simples,
aux pierres, etc., ont dejk dveille I'attention de docteurs allemands.

M. WiLMOTTE.

FOLK-LORE MLSCELLANEA.

I HAVE lately had so many pieces of folk-lore com-
municated to me, that perhaps it will, on the whole,
be best to keep them together. So, in the hope that the
Editor will agree with me that they are worth publishing,
I undertake to preside over the paste and scissors. I need
only premise that some of the communications have been
sent to me in writing, while others I have had to jot down
myself.

The first thing I have to offer our readers is a transla-
tion of a very curious poem published in a collection of
Gaelic poetry made by Donald MacMhuirich, and entitled
an Duanaire (Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh, 1868).
The original of the following piece will be found on pp.
123-6, and the translation is from the pen of Mr. W. A.
Craigie, a scholar of Oriel College, and a native of
Dundee : —

Glaistig Lianachain.

{The Field-Sprite)

One night, when the Gille-dubh-mor Mac Cuaraig was going
home from the smithy, the Glaistig met him as he was going over
Ciirr at Bial-ath Chroisg.

" Hail ! big, black-haired lad," said she,

" Would you be better of one behind you ?"

" Yes, and of one before me," said he.

And he gave her a little bit lift

Off the bare beach,

And bound her before him

Surely and firmly

On the back of his fine horse

^^6 Folk-lore Miscellanea.

With the charm-belt of Fillan.

And he vowed and he swore

Firmly and sternly

That he would not let her out of his grasp

Till he showed her in the presence of men.

" Let me off," she said ; " and you'll get from me

As indemnity and ransom

A fold full of speckled cows,

White-bellied, black, white-faced.

The choice of hillocks and of fairs.

For yourself and your kind after you."

" I have that without you," said he,

" And it will not suffice to free you."

" Let me off, and I will leave your land

Where I was dwelling in the hillocks,

And I will raise for you to-night

On the Foich over there

A big, strong, stone house :

A house that fire will not injure,

Nor water, nor arrow, nor iron.

And that will keep you dry and warm.

Without fear or dread, and a charm on you

From poison, and robbers, and fairies."

" Fulfil your words," said he,

" And you will get your freedom from me."

She gave a cry with sorrow

That was heard over seven hills.

One would think it was the Horn of might.

That Fionn had, that gave a blast.

And there was neither knoll nor hillock

That did not waken and answer :

They collected on the other side of the L6n {meadoiv),

Awaiting her orders.

She put them to work in haste.

Soberly and orderly.

And they brought flags and stones

Folk-lore Miscellanea. ^jj

From the beach at Steall Chlianaig,
Passing them from hand to hand.

In Tom Innis of the beach

Beams and rafters were cut,

And long couples

Smooth and stout, in the rowan wood ;

While she kept constantly saying :

" One stone above two stones.

And two stones above one stone ;

Pins, and turf, and wattle,

Every tree in the wood

Except wild cherry.

Pity it should not be found as placed,

And not placed as found."

At the greying of the day
There was turf on the ridge
And smoke from out of it.

He put the coulter on the fire
To keep him from mischief,
Since he knew the tricks
And the spells of the fairies.

When the house now was ready,
And she had fulfilled each condition.
He released the Siren
And suffered no harm.

She stretched out her hands to him

To take farewell of him.

But it was to take him to the fairy hill.

But he stretched out the coulter,
And the skin of her palm stuck to it.
And she leapt on a grey stone
Of the Foich to pass sentence on him.

She gave him the curse of the people
And the curse of the proud ;

3/8 Folk-lore Miscellanea.

And if we believe what we hear,
She got her desire :

" Grow Hke the rushes,

Wither hke the fern,

Grey in your childhood,

Fading in the flower of your strength ;

But I pray not that you may have no son in your place.

I am a sprite of sorrow.

That dwelt in the meadow-land ;

I raised a big house on the Foich,

And it has made a pain in my body.

I will pour out my heart's blood

On Sgurr Finisgeig up there,

On three rushy hillocks.

And they will be red till the day of doom."

And she leapt in a green flame
Over the shoulder of the crag.

Mr. Craigie appends the following note :

" The Glaistig is apparently a land-fairy, as I gather from the
epithet Lianachain (which seems to be a diminutive of Lian, " a
field" ; but may here be a local name), and from her speaking
of living in the hillocks. The name Siren, however (Siiire in
Gaelic), would indicate a sea-nymph."

I have also to thank Mr. Craigie for the following verses
of folk-lore : —

I.

Oidhch' an Fh^ll' Bride

Thu'irt an nathair anns an t6m,
" Cha bhean mi ri Clann lomhair

Mur bean Clann lomhair rium."

On the night of St. Bridget's day

Said the adder in the knoll,
" ril not meddle with Clan Ivar,

If they meddle not with me."

Folk-lore Miscellanea. 379

2.
Gach sgolb 's gach sgrath
Gu taigh Mhic Rath
Ach eidheann mu chrann
Is fiodhagach.

Every wattle and every turf
To the house of MacRae
Except ivy round the tree
And wild-cherry.

3-

The "trump", or Jew's harp, was believed to be a good protection
against witches. One time, a young fellow who had been sitting
alone in the bothy playing it, began to sing these words :

'S math an ceol an tromba Ghalld',
An tromba Ghalld', an tromba Ghalld',

'S math an ceol an tromba Ghalld'
A h-uile h-uair 'g an cluichear i.

'Tis a good music the Lowland trump

Every time that it 's played.

The Lowland trump, etc.
'Tis a good music, etc.

Bheir i buaidh air Buidseachan

Air Buidseachan, etc.
Bheir i buaidh, etc,

A huile h-uair 'g an cluichear i.

It will get victory over witches, etc.
'S gun cuir i ruaig air Raidseachan,

Air Raidseachan, etc.
And it will put hags to flight, etc.

But the Bana-bhuidseach was listening outside, and put in a
verse when he stopped :

'S math an ceol an tromba Ghalld',
An tromba, etc.

380 Folk-lore Miscellanea.

'Tis a good music, etc.

'S math an ceol, etc.

Mur bitheadh pong a tha 'n a deigh.

Were it not for the point^ that 's after it.

The next communication is a note by Mr. Davies of
Lincoln College. I received it last term, and it relates to
a Glamorgan holy well, situated on the pathway leading
from Coy church to Bredgled.

It is the custom, he writes, for people suffering from any
malady to dip a rag in the water and bathe the affected
part. The rag is then placed on a tree close to the well.
When I passed it about three years' ago there were hun-
dreds of these shreds covering the tree, and some had
evidently been placed there very recently.

My next correspondent speaks also about wells, and of
other things as well. He is Mr. D. J, Jones of Jesus College,
a native of the Rhondda Valley in Glamorgan. His letter
contains the following particulars :

" There are three interesting wells in our county. Ffynnon
Pen Rhys is only about two miles distant from my home.
The custom there is for the person who wishes to be bene-
fited, first to wash in the water, and afterwards to throw a
pin into the well.

" Dafydd Morgan wg, in his Hanes Morgamvy, speaks as
follows of Ffynnon Marcros, or Marcros Well : ' Mae zu
arferiad gan y rhai a iacheir ynddi i glymu darn bychan o
lian neu gotwm wrth frigau pren sydd gerllau ac y masnt
yno mor ami ar dail braidd.' (It is the custom for those
who are healed in it to tie a shred of linen or cotton to the
branches of a tree that stands close by ; and there the
shreds are as numerous nearly as the leaves.) Marcros is
near Nash Point, about eight miles from Bridgend, on the
map.

"Another well is that of Llancarfan, which is five or six
miles from Cowbridge. The custom there is the same as

^ No one seems to know the meaning of \.\\is pong^ or point, now.

Folk-lore Miscellanea. 381

at Ffynnon Marcros, and a tree near by is covered with
rags, etc., tied to it.

"In my neighbourhood, on seeing a white horse, you made
sure of good luck by spitting on your boot, and not looking
at the horse again.

"A native of Caerleon, in Monmouthshire, says that it
is a sure sign of death to see a robin near the house.
I suppose exceptions would be made in case of a hard
winter.

"It is in my neighbourhood a foreboding of death also to
hear a dog howl or a cock crow at night ; and an old fellow
near here went so far as to bury alive a pair of young fowls
because the cock crew one night. On his neighbours asking
him why he did it, he replied : ' Beth oedd yr hen, grad-
wriaid jawl yn neid 'rhen swn ra 'ta? ' (But why did those
demons of fowls make that hateful noise then ?) You must
excuse a little flowery language, as it is a characteristic of
the neighbourhood.

" With regard to New Year's Day, it is much the same all
over the country, as regards seeing a male first. South Cardi-
ganshire specialises red-haired males as unlucky. While in
the neighbourhood of Cardigan town a man of the name of
Thomas was also among the unlucky ones.

Bwyddeyn dwm
Wrth weled Twm.

The year will be heavy
From seeing Tommie.

"About Llanybyther, Carmarthenshire, males were divided
into Brytlnvyr and umvyr. Umvyrvjere men of the names
of Shon, Shencyn, Dafydd, and Ifan. Here, only univyr
were considered lucky.

" In Brecon, and some other places, to see a magpie cross
your way was a sure sign of approaching ill-luck. A crow
brought good luck, but some will have it cross your way
only in one particular direction, from right to left, I believe.
The Llanybyther district young ladies have a way of finding

382 Folk-lore Miscellanea.

out their future husbands by tying a handkerchief, or some-
thing of the kind, round the stem of a bush [a gooseberry
one generally], round which they walk seven times, or nine,
sowing seeds, after which the future husband will come and
untie the handkerchief"

Mr. Jones adds that the Rhondda district is a good one
for collecting folk-lore, as people from every county in
Wales live there.

The last two communications were received in response
to appeals of mine on the subject of wells, and to dispel my
doubts as to whether the habit of tying rags to trees near
holy wells is known in Wales. Of course I cannot possibly
entertain such doubts any longer as regards Glamorgan,
at any rate.

" Lunaria, or moon-fern, was, in old times, believed to possess
such a singular affinity for iron that it is often mentioned as
drawing the shoes from the feet of horses grazing in fields where
it grew. Culpepper, the famous herbalist, tells of a troop of
Cromwell's horse, under the command of the Earl of Essex, who
lost all their shoes from this cause while passing over a Devon-
shire moor. In Sylvester's translation of Du Barta's poems, this
supposed dangerous property of moon-fern is likewise alluded to.
In grubbing up old stumps of ash-trees, from which many suc-
cessive trees have sprung, in the parish of Scotton, there was
found, in many instances, an iron horse-shoe. One shown
measured 4)4 inches by 4}^ inches. The workmen seemed to
be familiar with this fact, and gave the following account :— The
shoe is placed to ' charm' the tree, so that a twig of it might be
used in curing cattle over which a shrew-mouse had run, or which
had been * overlooked'. If they were stroked by one of these
twigs, the disease would be charmed away."

My interest at present in this is chiefly confined to the
allusion it makes to the shrew-mouse, which, I presume, is
the little rodent called in Welsh a llyg. For, in my native
county of Cardigan, nothing can have been held more
unlucky than to be run over by this beast. I have never
heard of any man who had undergone such a misfortune ;

Folk-lore Miscellanea. 383

but it is a standing expression applied to an unlucky person
or a good-for-nothing kind of fellow — ma fe fel tae llyg
ivedi mind drorts fe ("he has just been run over by a ll}'g")
— and my wife knows the same saying in Gwynedd. Per-
haps some member of the Society will enlighten me on
the origin of the unluckiness attaching to the l/yg. I am
not well up in field-life, but I notice that Pugh explains
llyg as " a mouse ; the shrew, or field-mouse" ; and Davies,
in his Welsh-Latin Dictionary, gives it as inus araneus.
But one thing is certain : it never now means the domestic
mouse, which is known by the name of llygoden. Thus the
llyg or shrew-mouse (if it be the shrew) takes the first
place, and the house-mouse is known only by a name
derived from that of the llyg. What is the significance of
that sequence ?

Some time ago I had the pleasure of taking Sir John
Evans over the Pitt-Rivers Museum, a unique feature
of modern Oxford, as those folk-lorists can testify who
made a visit to it in the course of last year's Congress.
There I called his attention to some " mythological totem-
sculptures from British Columbia". One of these is
labelled an " Ancestral Totem of the Bear Tribe", and
further described as " Hoorts the Bear killing Towats the
Hunter". A second, and more intelligible one to me, is
described as representing the demon Scana residing within
the killer-whale {orca ater). The whole piece of timber is
rather longer than that of Hoorts, and measures, as Mr.
Balfour thinks, from 9 to 10 feet by about 2 broad. The
two ends are fashioned into two mouths, each partially open,
and showing two formidable rows of teeth. In the belly
of the whale sits Scana, across in a squatting posture, with
his broad mouth close to his knees. I had found upon
a previous occasion, what I regard as a miniature of the
same sort of savage Jonah from the same part of the
world. It is labelled an " Ivory Fetish for containing dis-
embodied Spirits (Haidah)". The ivory is about 6 inches
long, and a portion of the middle is occupied by a demon

3S4 Folk-lore Miscellanea.

sitting across like Scana, and the ends of the fetish are
carved into open mouths, with the teeth regularly indi-
cated, as in the case of Scana's residence. I should like
to suggest that the carving here indicates the same animal
forms, but the identity of the idea in the two cases is most
striking and impossible to miss. I led my friend to look
at the ivory fetish, and he made a remark which seemed to
me well worth bearing in mind, namely, that the fetish for
collecting disembodied spirits reminded him of Welsh
stories relating how demons of the crockery-breaking
species used to be exorcised in former days. Now one
of the tasks of the exorcist was to make the demon
reduce his dimensions, and when this was done, he got
him, by hook or by crook, into some small receptacle or
other, for the spirits then appear to have been quite as
stupid as those with whom our modern spiritualists busy
themselves. The most usual sort of receptacle was, perhaps,
the exorcist's own snuff-box or tobacco-box, whence the
offending demon might be transferred to a bottle, and
safely corked for centuries to come. Is it possible that
the snuff-box or tobacco-box only took the place of a
specially-constructed contrivance for spirit-catching ?

It is, in any case, fairly evident that no casual box could
be equal to the ivory fetish with its open mouths, which
emphasise the impossibility of backing out on the part of
any demon prisoner who once begins to enter the portals
of their teeth. It would not be to the point to say that
the Christian exorcist availed himself of the aid of terrible
formulae of words, unless it could be shown that the
medicine-men of savage nations are badly equipped in
this respect, which I should fancy highly improbable.
Hoorts and Scana were presented to the Museum by Dr.
Tylor in 1887, and it is much to be wished that he would
publish a full account of them, if he has not already done
so. To make it thoroughly intelligible, it should be
accompanied with woodcuts or photographs of both ;
also of the Haidah ivory, and other things of the same

Folk- Lore Miscellanea. 385

class, of which Mr. Balfour showed me several the other
day. One would then be in a better position to judge
how far the ideas of the natives of British Columbia can
be matched by ideas of the same order underlying the
folk-lore of the British Isles.

Whilst at the Pitt-Rivers Museum, I noticed a somewhat
recent acquisition, consisting of a very rude clay model,
about a yard long, of the human figure. It is labelled as
follows : " Corp creidh, or clay figure, rudely shaped to a
representation of a person whose death is desired. It is
stuck with pins and nails, etc., in order that the person
may suffer corresponding torments, and perish miserably.
Such figures are usually placed in a stream, with the idea
that, as the clay is wasted away, so the enemy will waste
and perish."

The specimen is from G , in the county of In-
verness, and it is the gift of Major G of that place.

The history of the present specimen is, however, not that
it was found in a stream, but discovered early one morning

placed at Major G 's door. The workmen who found it

there were horrified by its presence, and threw it away. The
Major, having come to hear of this design on his life — for
he was the victim intended — took the very enlightened
revenge .on his ill-wishers of carefully collecting the disjecta
membra of this rude model of himself, and of presenting
it to our Museum.

Since this occurred, I have heard a still more remark-
able story of the same kind. A minister in the Highlands
— I forget his name and the name of his church — hap-
pened to offend some of his people by holding certain
theological views not accepted by them. He, proving
obdurate in his heresies, was suddenly observed to be
wasting away like one whose strength and vigour were
rapidly ebbing. His friends became anxious about him,
and discovered the cause of his illness in a corp creidh
deposited, by the theologians of the other party, in a
stream that passed by his house.

VOL. III. c c

386 Folk- Lore Miscellanea.

Of course, I cannot vouch for the correctness of this story,
which has travelled to Oxford from the Highlands. It may-
be taken as illustrative of practices which prevailed not so
very long ago in other parts of Britain. And yet to what
thoughts it must give rise in the mind of historians, who
have eyes for other things than the intrigues alone of kings
and their creatures ! Here we are, as it were, witnesses to
the fetching of rust-eaten weapons from the armoury of
the most primitive religion in the world, in order to be used
in the warfare of the most modern of theologies. What
a strange rencontre between the medicine-man of hoary
antiquity, with his bag of Druidic tricks, and the academical
divine who fortifies John Knox's tenets with patches of
fashionable philosophy !

John Rhys.

CELTIC MYTH AND SAGA.

Report upon the Progress of Research during
THE Past Two Years.

(Cf. ante, Archaeological Review, Oct. 1888; Folk-Lore,
June 1890.)

1. Early Ethnology of the British Isles, being the Rhind Lectures in

Archaeology, December 1889, by John Rhys. {Scottish Review,
April 1890— July 1891.)

2. Les premiers habitants de PEurope d^apres les ^crivains de

Vantiquite et les travaux des linguistes, par H. DArbois de
Jubainville. Second edition. Vol.1. Paris: Thorin.

3. Recherches sur Vorigine de la propriete fonciere et des noms de

lieux habites en France, par H. DArbois de Jubainville. Paris :
Thorin.

4. Cours de littcratiire celtique. Vol. V : L'epopee celtique en

Irlande, par H. D'Arbois de Jubainville. Paris : Thorin.

5. Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. Vols. IV, \. London :

Nutt.

6. Folk-lore of the Isle of Man, by A. W. Moore. London : Nutt.

7. Six Months in the Apennines, or a Pilgrimage in search Oj

Vestiges of the Irish Saints in Italy, by Marg. Stokes.
London : Bell.

8. ZiMMER (H.). — Articles in the Gott. gel. Anzeiger, 1890, Oct. i.

Zeitschrift fiir franz. Sprache uttd Literaiur, Vol. XII, Part i,
and Vol. XIII.

9. Cours de litteraturc celtiqice. Vols. Ill, IV : Les Mabinogion

traduits en entier pour la premiere fois, avec un commentaire
explicatif et des notes critiques, par J. Loth. Paris : Thorin.

10. Studies in the Arthurian Legend, by John Rhys. Oxford :

Clarendon Press.

11. Hagen (P.). — Parzivalstudien. I, II. {Gerjiuuiia, iZ()2, \ , 2.)

12. Die franz'dsischen Gralromane, von Rich. Heinzel. Vienna:

Ceroid.

C C J

o

88 Celtic Myth and Saga.

Les mots latins dans Ics langues brittonigues, avec une introduction
sur la romanisation de I'lle de Bretagne, par J. Loth. Paris :
Bouillon.

THE two years that have passed since the publication
of my last report will rank among the most fruitful
in the study of Celtic antiquity, thanks chiefly to the
labours of Mr. Whitley Stokes and of Professor Heinrich
Zimmer. So much new material has been made accessible
to students, so far reaching have been the theories advanced
and are the conclusions that inevitably force themselves
upon the Celtologist, that I despair of being able within
the space at my command to adequately express the scope
and import of what has been achieved and attempted.^

Following my usual practice in these reports, I deal first
with investigations devoted to early continental Celtdom ;
then with Ireland, the records of which must ever remain
our chief source of knowledge of Celtic antiquity and the
Celtic genius ; lastly, with the Brythonic Celts of Britain and
Brittany, whose chief importance in so far as these reports
are concerned lies in the fact that the Arthurian romance
originated among and was mainly elaborated by them.

Prof Rhys's Rhind Lectures may conv^eniently be con-
sidered under the first heading, although they are chiefly
concerned with the Celtic inhabitants of these islands.
Undoubtedly, however, the most suggestive of the many
suggestive speculations contained in these lectures are
those which attempt to determine the early habitat of the
Celtic-speaking peoples, the order in which the hypothetical
ancestors of the present Gaels and Brythons spread over
the Continent and throughout the British Isles, and their
relation to the populations which they conquered or dis-
possessed. Prof Rhys's investigations hardly allow of being
summarised, and he would be the first to admit that he has

^ I need hardly say that I make no attempt at detailed criticism.
My object is to bring clearly before those who are not specialists the
salient results and main lines of investigation.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 389

reached no definitely settled results. His work is essentially-
pioneer work, and it would be unfortunate if the rather
large class of persons whose interest in Celtic matters is
not controlled by critical instinct were to regard the num-
berless brilliant hypotheses scattered throughout these
lectures as other than tentative. The principle, however,
which underlies most of Prof. Rhys's theories deserves to
be brought into prominence — it is that the Celtic-speak-
ing tribes were numerically insignificant compared with
the populations they subdued, and that their own speech,
institutions, and beliefs were profoundly modified by those
of these peoples.

This principle, of which Prof Rhys has given examples in
these pages (cf ante, iii, 260), is accepted by other scholars.
A striking instance is furnished by M. S. Reinach's note on
Druidism {Revue Celt., 1892, April). He claims that it
represents the pre-Celtic (probably pre-Aryan) worship of
the race which erected the megalithic monuments, that its
spirit was in striking contrast, not to say marked hostility,
to the anthropomorphic conception of religion found among
the Aryan tribes of Greece, Italy, and Asia, and that it
shared this particularity with the Pythagorean doctrine.
Indeed, whilst M. Reinach very properly lays no stress upon
the theory of certain ancients that Pythagoras was a pupil
of the Druids, he evidently considers that it has a legitimate
justification in the affinity of the two systems of belief

It is not easy to exaggerate the importance of this
expression of opinion from a scholar fully equipped with
all the appliances of modern research and animated by
the strictest critical method. M. Reinach deliberately
countenances a traditional theory, discarded for a while as
unscientific, whilst at the same time he indicates how that
theory must be modified to make it accord with existing
knowledge. I shall have frequent occasion in the follow-
ing pages to instance other cases in which the traditional
view has been vindicated or rehabilitated in its essence, if
not in all its details.

390 Celtic Myth and Saga.

M. D'Arbois de Jubainville's works, cited at the head of
this article under Nos. 2 and 3, lie outside the scope of
these reports, but must be mentioned as indispensable to
any serious student of Celtic antiquity.

Turning to Ireland, we find that great activity has been
shown in that first requisite of scholarly progress — the
publication and translation of texts. Mr. Whitley Stokes
has issued, in the Transactions of the Philological Society
(for 1891-92), the Bodleian fragment of Cormac's Glossary,
Irish text and English version. Although a modern tran-
script (1440 A.D.), it was made, as the editor points out>
from an older text than that represented by any other
MS. save the nth century fragment in the BooJ^: of
Leinster. According to Mr. Whitley Stokes, the Glossary
in its oldest form was written (the italics are mine) not
much before the nth century, i.e., at the end, instead of
at the beginning, of the loth century, the traditional date.
It is noteworthy that all the articles (" inibas forosna'\
" lethecJi\ " nmgh-e'me" , " Manannan mac lir'', " nescoif\
^^ ore \ ^' pru It") -which, make Cormac's Glossary so invalu-
able to the student of Celtic myth and saga are to be
found in this fragment.

Mr. Whitley Stokes has also published in the Revue Cel-
tique the most important text of the so-called mythological
cycle (cf Folk-Lore Journal, ii, 175), the "Second Battle
of Moytura". In this story we see what are presumably
the personages of the ancient Irish pantheon masquerading
in the guise of prehistoric kings and chiefs, yet retaining
the magic attributes and capacities which distinguish the
actors in the god- and hero-tales of nearly every race that
has produced such tales. The MS. tradition of the tale as
a whole is late, and it is open to the sceptic to urge that
these magic supernatural traits do not come down from a
primitive pre-Christian stage, but are simply part of a story-
telling machinery common throughout the Middle Ages,
and mainly derived from blurred reminiscences of classic
fable. This is a theory that must be re-faced in respect of

Celtic Myth and Saga. 391

each separate tale or cycle of tales, that cannot be re-
jected or accepted on a priori grounds, but must in each
case be judged mainly by the internal evidence furnished
by the tale itself If we examine the Moytura story we
find, apart from the fact that a portion of it occurs in
Cormac's Glossary, strong evidence of its archaic character
in the almost entire absence of any Christian colouring, in
the comic nature of certain of the supernatural personages
(the role of the Dagda, the assumed head of the Irish
pantheon, recalls that of Herakles in Aristophanes, or,
with less dignity, that of Thor in some of the Norse
legends), and in the lack of either incident or characterisa-
tion that seems referable to classic sources. Our present
text, which is obviously late and much interpolated,
presents an interesting literary problem in the parallelism
of the final passage with certain portions of the Vol7ispa.

The impression of genuine and archaic origin which this
text produces, when read by itself, is much strengthened
by comparison with another important tale translated by
Mr. Whitley Stokes, the story of the Boroma tribute
exacted from Leinster by Tuathal Techtmar, High King of
Ireland in the second century, and levied for a space of 500
years, until Saint Moiling procured its remission by a piece
of verbal trickery. The two stories may well have assumed
substantially their present shape at about the same period,
viz., from the 9th to the nth century, and probably owe
that shape to the same class of men, the monkish scholars
and transcribers who have preserved for us the legends
elaborated by the Ollamhs. Yet the character of the two
tales is entirely different — the one obviously mythic, the
other professedly historic, non-historic accretions being of
a legendary or romantic but not of a mythic nature ; the
one free from any traces of Christianity save the most
superficial and such as betray at once their late and inter-
polated origin, the other, in consonance with its historical
framework, relying wholly upon Christianity for its super-
natural element. If, as some would claim, the originating

392 Celtic Myth and Saga.

cause of both story-cycles is to be found in an alien and
purely literary culture, is such consistent adaptation of
treatment to subject-matter conceivable for one moment ?
Must not rather the unprejudiced observer recognise that
the mediaeval story-teller is relating something much older
than himself ; something derived, substantially, from that
stage of culture to which it professes to belong ? To judge
otherwise were to look upon these tales as historical novels.
This genre was not entirely unknown in the Middle Ages,
but we know by a famous example, Geoffrey of Mon-
mouth's pseudo-history of Britain, how it was conceived
and elaborated. Nothing more alien in spirit and execu-
tion to the Irish tales we are considering can be imagined.

We further owe to Mr. Whitley Stokes text and trans-
lation of the oldest version of Cormac's Adventure in the
Land of Promise^ (a modern recension of which had been
published by Mr. Standish Hayes O'Grady in vol. iii of the
Ossianic Society's Transactions), one of the most interesting
early Irish descriptions of the Otherworld, and remarkable
in its present, relatively late form, from having received
some slight Christian touches, which can, however, be
easily separated from the main body of the tale.

The same volume of the Irische Texte contains the text
and German version by Professor Windisch of perhaps the
most curious and, to folk-lorists, most interesting of the
remscela, or introductory stories prefixed to the Tain bo
Cuailgne. The greatest of Irish epics is traced back to
the quarrel of two swineherds who war against each other
for years in different shapes, both human and animal, and
finally reincarnate themselves in two bulls, the rivalry
between which it is that leads to the invasion of Ulster by
the allied forces of the remainder of Ireland. As I pointed
out in my paper on Heroic Legend, read before the Second
International Folk-lore Congress, this is practically the
oldest known example of the Transformation fight-incident,
which, as is well known, occurs, though in different form,
^ Irische Texte, vol. iii, i.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 393

in the i6th century Welsh tale of Taliesin, and has been
boldly claimed as a late loan from the East. Its presence
in an Irish tale, which can hardly be younger than the
seventh century, and which is probably centuries older,
shows how baseless this claim is.

The number of Irish texts which have been translated
is considerable, but they are either scattered through
the pages of specialist periodicals, or, as a rule, unaccom-
panied by such critical comment as enables the layman
to judge of their place in Celtic literature. It is the
merit of M. D'Arbois de Jubainville's Epopee celtique
to make the general reader free of a domain hitherto
reserved for the specialist, or only thrown open to
the public at large without the necessary sign-posts. A
selection is given of the more important texts, the MS.
sources are enumerated, the authenticity and development
of the versions are discussed, the scientific value of the
ancient Irish sagas is set forth briefly but clearly. I think
too well of this book not to hope that a second edition
may soon be called for, and in anticipation thereof would
point out what I cannot but consider serious defects,
defects that may, however, be easily remedied. A large
amount of space is wasted upon French versions of Mac-
pherson's Ossian. Whatever Macpherson's merits as a
writer may be, he throws absolutely no light upon the
origin and early form of the Gaelic heroic epos. Again,
the volume, due to the collaboration of M. D'Arbois and his
pupils, has not been brought up to date. Thus the trans-
lation and comment upon the Voyage of Mael Duin, due
to M. Ferd. Lot, date from before Prof. Zimmer's masterly
account of the imniran literature (cf. ante, i, p^. 237). M. Lot
cannot be blamed for not having anticipated Prof. Zim-
mer's results, but the public is justly entitled to complain
that he has not revised his study in accordance with the
latest and best information.

I pass from the disagreeable task of fault-finding to the
consideration of some views advanced by the editor which,

394 Celtic Myth and Saga.

if correct, have an important bearing upon the study of
ancient Celtic literature. M. D'Arbois cites the institution
of marriage as exemplifying that archaic side of early
Irish civilisation upon which he rightly lays so much stress.
The household chief, he says, with perhaps unnecessary
realism, held his women in little more estimation than he
did the females of his flocks and herds, and was as indif-
ferent to the paternity of the offspring in the one as in the
other case. M. D'Arbois is better acquainted with Irish
law than any man living, and I doubt not his having
good ground for such an extreme assertion. But I must
point out that it is not warranted by the testimony of the
very sagas which he prints. True, the di'oit du seigneur is
prominent in the oldest tales, and seems to have been as
widely spread an institution in ancient Ireland as it still is
in certain parts of Africa. But the Toc/i?narc Einer {Arch.
Review, vol. i) turns in part upon Cuchulainn's reluctance
to submit to this custom. A similar reluctance is shown
by one of the personages in the Boroma tribute story
{Rev. Celt., xiii, p. 59). The story of Curoi mac Daire's death
is partly a sermon against female fickleness ; the stories of
Mesgegra's death, and of the Sons of Uisnech, are partly
examples of woman's faithfulness. These instances might
easily be multiplied, but they suffice to prove either that
M. D'Arbois, generalising too widely, has drawn an over-
black picture of the marriage relation in ancient Ireland,
or else that the romantic sagas are the outcome of a much
later stage of national development than that testified to
by the customals. If this is so, one can hardly doubt that
the active principle in this development must have been
Christianity. On the other hand, if Christianity affected
the spirit of these stories in so vital a particular, would its
influence have stopped there? But on the whole M. D'Ar-
bois' opinion of the marriage-tie in early Ireland would
seem, if justified, to prove the relative lateness of the
heroic tales. Now one of these tales, the Toclimarc Enter,.
contains the incident of the father and son combat, found

Celtic Myth and Saga. 395

also in Teutonic saga not later than the eighth century
(Hildebrand and Hadubrand), and in Iranian saga not
later than the tenth century (Rustem and Sohrab), Com-
menting upon these facts ( Waifs and Strays, IV) I claimed
the Irish tale of Cuchulainn and Conlaoch as the Celtic
variant of a pan-Aryan incident. But M. D'Arbois goes
much further than this. According to him the German
version is dependent upon the Irish one, and is a result of
that Teutonic and Celtic contact in central Europe which
lasted throughout the fourth and third centuries B.C. Again,
he maintains that the Iranian version, which, although only
known to us in Firdusi's poem, is certainl}' ages older than
Christianity, represents a younger and less perfect form of
the story than does the Irish one. Sohrab, he points out,
has to fight against an Amazon queen. On the part of
the son this combat is meaningless, and the incident in
Firdusi can only be a distorted reminiscence o{\he fathers
overcoming^ the Amazon who is to be the mother of the
son, never to be seen again by him until the last fatal
encounter. This is the form of the story in the Tochmarc
Enter. If M. D'Arbois is correct the Irish tale is thrown
back into prehistoric times, must indeed date as far back
as any known portion of Hellenic saga. But the con-
stancy of Emer (she refuses the chief of Munster's heir for
Cuchulainn's sake) is an essential element of the story.
The men and women of early Ireland were, then, on a
somewhat higher level in love matters than the beasts of
the field ?

M. D'Arbois accords little space to the Finn or Ossianic
cycle. As is well known, this has formed the subject of
a revolutionary series of investigations by Prof. Zimmer.
I have summarised these for English readers in The Aca-
rt'^;;// of February 1891 (reprinted Waifs and Strays, IV, with
additions and modifications), and can only deal briefly
with the subject here. Traditional Irish history makes
Finn a third-century warrior. Modern scholars have ac-
cepted this date. Some have considered the Finn saga to

39^ Celtic Myth and Saga.

be mainly historical, with later romantic accretions ; others,
like myself, have held it to be mainly ancient myth re-
crystallised around a third-century name. According to
Professor Zimmer, Finn was an early ninth-century half-
Viking, half-Irishman, an opponent of the Dublin Danes,
by whom he was slain. Let us first see what this theory
postulates respecting the Irish records that have come
down to us : {a) That the genuine history of the ninth
century, in so far as this hypothetical struggle of Finn
against the Danes is concerned, was practically left un-
recorded in its chronological place save for the chance
entry of the defeat and death of Caitill Find ; {U) that the
main elements of this history were used as the basis of
an historical romance the date of which was thrown back
five hundred years ; {c) that the statements of this romance
reacted upon the genuine historical record of the third-
tenth centuries. No reason is assigned for this process,
and the only explanation of it vouchsafed is that the
genuine history of the early ninth, was strikingly like the
genuine history of the third century, so that confusion was
made possible.

It is difficult to find in English history an analogy to
the process postulated. If, however, we can imagine the
stories about Alfred's resistance to the Danes being carried
back to the fifth century, and thus originating the story of
Arthur's resistance to the Saxons, we can form some idea
of what Professor Zimmer assumes to have taken place in
Ireland. The analogy, of course, halts in this, that the
men who sang of Alfred were of other race than those
who told of Arthur ; but it will serve the purpose.

That the Irish could create pseudo-history on a large
scale we know, but we also know why they did it. The
annalists of the eighth and succeeding centuries were Chris-
tian monks, and they could only conceive mythic tradition
as pseudo-history. It was inevitable that they should
euhemerise the national mythology. They obeyed exactly
the same impulse as Nennius or Saxo Grammaticus. But

Celtic Myth and Saga. 397

what motive could possibly account for such wholesale
reconstruction of ex hypothesi genuine history as is re-
quired by Prof Zimmer's theory ?

A priori objections such as this cannot, however, stand
against facts. Unfortunately, however, for Prof Zimmer,
his facts, in so far as they belong to the domain of
philology, are contested by philologists of at least equal
standing with himself Disclaiming all competence in the
question, I can merely note that the balance of authority is
decidedly against Prof Zimmer. In so far as the facts belong
to the domain of history, I can appreciate the force of the
arguments against him. Thus it is a requisite of his theory
that the words " fiann", " feni", and their allied forms date
from after 850 A.D. But M. D'Arbois de Jubainville cites
several examples of the word " feni" (in the sense of
Irishmen or men in general) from what are apparently the
most archaic portions of the Irish customals, thus cutting
the ground entirely from under Prof Zimmer's feet.

Pending fresh evidence, one can only state that Prof
Zimmer's attack upon the traditional account of the Finn
heroic cycle has failed. That this is so is partly that
scholar's own fault, or rather has its explanation in certain
peculiarities of his temperament. Prof Zimmer has a
wonderful capacity for detail investigation, a passion for
elaborating equally every portion of the hypotheses he is
fond of constructing. He is thus led to lay as much stress
upon what may be secondary as upon what are vital
elements of his theory. He fortifies an unimportant out-
post in such wise that its capture seems equivalent to that
of the central donjon. This tendency of his makes his
studies most instructive reading. Nowhere else does one
find such an enormous mass of detail brought together.
But in addition to laying him open unnecessarily to
damaging onslaught, this tendency has the further dis-
advantage of leading astray persons who are unable to
discriminate, and are inclined to accept or reject theories
en bloc. Prof Zimmer is right in many things, say these

398 Celtic Myth at id Saga.

persons, therefore he must be right in all, and they forth-
with choose his most questionable theory upon which to
build further hypotheses.

This is the explanation of an article by M. Pflugk-
Hartung in the Revue Celtiquc. The writer's object is
praiseworthy. Struck by the difficulty of dating the earliest
Irish stories by purely literary tests, he turned to archaeo-
logy for more trustworthy evidence. The material life
pictured in these stories seemed to him inconsistent with
the testimony of the peat-moss and the chambered barrow.
In this perplexity, Prof Zimmer's contention for the
marked influence exercised upon Irish heroic literature by
Viking creed and fancy was a ray of light. As is the way
of disciples, he went one better, and for him the great
mass of Irish sagas are post- Viking compositions of the
tenth century, the material and moral civilisation of which
(and not that of pre-Christian Ireland) it is they reflect.

This is a bold contention, and it is worth a moment's
inquiry whether archaeological evidence alone is capable of
proving it. That archaeology can throw valuable light
upon the origin and nature of a text is certain, but the
light is apt to be very dim unless we have a previously
formed idea of how the text came into being. Now with
regard to the older stratum of Irish heroic legend (that of
which Cuchulainn is the chief hero), the doctrine which
holds the field, and which is based chiefly upon Prof.
Zimmer's admirable researches into the composition of the
texts contained in the Leabhar na Ji Uidhre, is briefly this.
Reduced to writing for the first time in the seventh century,
when Christianity had at once introduced a new culture,
established new ideals, and forced the older world it
dispossessed to manifest itself in permanent form on forfeit
of disappearing altogether, the after history of these tales
belongs to written literature rather than to oral tradition.
But they were not slavishly transcribed ; each age modern-
ised and revised them, put new words in the place of
obsolete ones, glossed archaisms, transformed or eliminated

Celtic Myth and Saga. 399

intelligibilities. Nay more — variant versions were welded
together, harmonising additions were made, the loose
chronology of the saga was brought into accord with
pseudo-history, scraps of new learning were plentifully
introduced. Moreover, so Prof Zimmer thinks, changes
were actually made in the framework of the stories under
the influence of Norse legend. But with this exception
he looks upon the tales as still seventh century in sub-
stance; i.e., the changes made between the hypothetical
original written form and the eleventh-century texts we
possess are, he holds, secondary and not primary. What
follows ? Obviously, that little reliance can be placed upon
any archaeological argument a silentio : we cannot con-
demn the texts as post-Christian -because they do not
contain traits which we 'know to be pre-Christian ; these
may, are likely indeed, to have often dropped out. Nor
can we lay much stress upon the archaeological evidence
in unimportant details where nothing stood in the way of
the transcriber's or reviser's substituting a familiar for an
unfamiliar or wholly forgotten word or idea. On the other
hand, every archaic trait, however slight, must date back to
the original form. The monkish editors and transcribers
simply could not, even had the thought suggested itself to
them, have invented details of manners and customs long
passed away in order to give their versions an old-fashioned
look. Unless, indeed — for there is an unless — certain traits
held their ground by virtue of their belonging to an arsenal
of epic cliches. But an epic convention implies a long
and vigorous epic production, and M. Pflugk-Hartung is
debarred from using this latter argument, as he maintains
that the Irish sagas were new compositions of the tenth
century. Let us then test his argument by the canons we
have just laid down. Iron is frequently mentioned in these
tales. But, says M. Pflugk-Hartung, iron was unknown in
pre-Christian Ireland, ergo Qvery tale in which iron appears
must have been compo.sed long after Christianity. On the
other hand, the tales which profess and approve themselves

400 Celtic Myth and Saga.

to be the oldest, invariably picture the warrior as fighting-
from his war-chariot in the very guise set forth in the pages
of Caesar. We do not know exactly when this custom
ceased in Ireland, but it is safe to say hundreds of years
before the tenth century. Now this, says M. Pflugk-
Hartung, is a matter of no importance. Who does not
see that the very contrary is the truth ? That even if we
knew^ — ^which we do not — the exact date of the introduction
of iron into Ireland, its mention in a story only gives a
clue to the date of the redaction, not of the story itself?
that the change from the obsolete metal to the one in use
when the scribe wrote is a most natural one, whereas the
retention of an entirely obsolete mode of fighting is
inexplicable, unless we admit the substantially archaic
character of the text in which it is found .-'

Curiously enough, M. Pflugk-Hartung separates himself
from Prof Zimmer on the question of the late date of the
Finn cycle. It is easy to see why. Whatever opinion
may be held concerning the origin of this cycle, it is certain
that the great bulk of the stories composing it belong to
a much later stage of composition than do those of the
Ultonian cycle. Many, it is quite possible, were first
reduced to writing in the tenth and eleventh centuries ;
many, again, are even later. Now the difference in the
presentment of material life is most marked, and M. Pflugk-
Hartung may well have felt embarrassed at finding tales
probably composed at the very time to which he ascribes
the Ultonian cycle, and which yet picture a material life
so different and in many respects more advanced. The
extraordinary conclusion at which he arrives is, that the
Ultonian or Cuchulainn cycle, as we have it, is posterior to
that of Finn.

I may here note the interesting Ossianic talcs published
by M. L. C. Stern in the January number of the Revue
Celtique. One of these is important as being a prose
amplification of an episode told in verse in the Book
of Leinster, the others as being hitherto quite unknown.

Celtic Myth a?id Saga. 401

In one, Finn is found predicting the coming of Christianity.
This trait, a commonplace of the cycle, is easy to explain
if, pre-Christian at first, these stories were finally adapted
by Christian scribes. On Prof. Zimmer's theory it is well-
nigh inexplicable.

I have dwelt at some length on M. Pflugk-Hartung's
article, little as its conclusions deserve notice, because it is
characteristic of a current tendency to strain archaeological
evidence beyond its due limits. That much may be hoped,
however, from a searching investigation of Irish prehistoric
art in all its phases I firmly believe, and I trust that the
younger generation of Irish scholars will not suffer the
work of Todd and Petrie and Wilde to remain uncom-
pleted.

Comparatively little has been done in regard to the
collection and study of modern Gaelic folk-lore. Colonel
Wood- Martin, in the third and concluding volume of his
great work upon the Antiquities and History of Sligo,
devotes chapters to manners and customs, and to legends
and superstitions, both of which may be consulted with
profit, particularly with regard to well-worship. Mr.
Moore's Folk-lore of tlie Isle of Man is a useful and careful
summary of what is known Volumes iii and iv of
Waifs and Strays of Celtic J raditio7i contain valuable and
authentic material for the study of Gaelic folk-fancy. The
interest of the late Rev. A. Cameron's Reliquice Celticce
(to which I have already drawn attention ajite, p. 280) is
mainly philological. It is earnestly to be hoped that all
Highlanders will welcome this worthy memorial of Scot-
land's greatest Gaelic scholar. I may be permitted to place
on record the claims I have advanced in these pages {ante,
March 1892) on behalf of the Gaelic nidrchen, Gold Tree
and Silver Tree, that it is the most faithful representative
of the story-root whence have sprung the German niiirchen
of Schneewittchen and the twelfth-century Breton lai of
Eliduc.

One point of no small importance has been partly

VOL. in. D D

402 Celtic Myth and Saga.

cleared up during the last few months. Readers of FOLK-
LORE may recollect that one of the sins which Prof.
Zimmer laid to my charge was that I used the Gaelic story
of the Great Fool as evidence of the Celtic origin of the
incident, similar to it, found in the Conte du Graal and in
the Welsh tale of Peredur. I promised to investigate
this charge.^ The Gaelic story has hitherto been known in
two portions, one the lay proper, in verse, the other a
prose introduction to the lay, printed by Campbell from
oral tradition (^Popular Tales, vol. iii). It was from this
prose introduction that I chiefly drew my parallels between
the Gaelic and French stories. But the Irish text of 1716,
to which Prof. Zimmer drew my attention afresh, turns
out, as my friend Dr. Hyde reports, to be a prose version,
comprising both Campbell's introduction and the lay, and
to be obviously dependent, in the first portion at least,
upon some Arthurian romance akin to the English Sir
Perceval. Until the whole is translated it would be unsafe
to say if this prose text represents the original of the lay
of the Great Fool, or if it be not rather a welding
together of the lay and an Arthurian romance. In any
case, Campbell's oral version is closely akin to the Irish
text of 17 16, and as this may possibly be a mere transla-
tion from the English or French, it cannot be accepted, for
the present at least, as an independent variant of the
Perceval story. Any arguments which I have based upon
the Campbell fragment, whether in my " Aryan Expul-
sion and Return Formula among the Celts" (^Folk-lore
Record, iv) or in my " Legend of the Grail", must there-
fore be considered invalid, whilst arguments based upon the
lay (of which I still doubt the Arthurian origin) should for
the present be left out of account.

In Romania for January 1892, M. F. Lot, discussing
the swan-children incident in the " Children of Lir", and
the parallel between Diarmaid's combat in the " Pursuit

' Cf. my article, Folk-Lore, June 1891.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 403

of the Gilla Dacker'V and Owain's combat with the knight
of the fountain,- expressed himself sceptical as to the
possibility of any French Arthurian influence upon Irish
story-telling. In view of the facts adduced above this
scepticism is not justified. It is, however, impossible to
dogmatise as to the extent of this influence before all the
Irish Arthurian texts have been edited, translated, and
critically examined.

Before leaving Irish soil I would fain linger for a
moment over the fascinating volume in which Miss Stokes
follows up the tracks of the wandering Irish monks who
founded churches and monasteries in the Lombardy and
Tuscany of the sixth and seventh centuries. No account
of the development of the Irish race but must give its due
weight to the fact that within a relatively short period
after the introduction of Christianity into Ireland Irish
missionaries were at work, respected and revered, through-
out Western Europe. We should have to assume
for pre-Christian Ireland, even if tradition did not assert
its existence, a stage of advanced barbarism (practically
the stage revealed to us by the oldest epic narratives) as
a background to the achievements of Columba and his
fellows. With a stage of savagery, such as some writers
contend for, immediately preceding the introduction of
Christianity, the missionary process is inexplicable.

Thus, in Gaelic philology, accumulation of fresh material
rather than new and generally accepted critical theory has
been the mark of the last two years. In Brythonic philology,
on the other hand, criticism has been far more important
than publication of texts. Before I proceed to discuss the
great series of investigations by which Professor Zimmer
has thrown so much light upon the origin and development
of the Arthurian cycle, I may be allowed, in spite of my
close connection with the work, to point out the significance

^ Cf. Joyce's Celtic Romances for the story.
2 " The Lady of the Fountain," in Lady Guest's Mabinogion.

D D 2

404 Celtic Myth and Saga.

of Dr. Sommer's researches into the sources of Malory's
Morte DartJmr} Malory is the latest in da.te of the
mediaeval writers who worked up the Arthurian stories
into a cyclic whole. The compilers of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries had welded the enormous mass of
episodic incident that lay to their hand into four or five
well-defined branches or sub-cycles, and had connected
these in a more or less artificial way. This process was
continued by Malory, who practically gives us an abridg-
ment of the whole story cycle in one continuous narrative.
What was the relation of this fifteenth-century compilation
to the older compilations of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries? In how far could it be used for the purpose of
recovering the earliest forms of the stories ? Questions
these not seriously attempted, save in the case of the
Lancelot story by M. Gaston Paris, until Dr. Sommer took
them in hand and now finally answered. Henceforth
Malory can be used by the student, or rather must be
used by the student in conjunction with Dr. Sommer's
Commentary, if he wishes to obtain in the quickest and
pleasantest mode possible a general knowledge of the
Arthurian romance.

Whilst this storehouse of legend, which is also one of
the noblest monuments of our literature, has been edited
with a special view to the requirements of the scholar, the
foundations of early Welsh history have been laid afresh
by Mr. Egerton Phillimore in his edition of the Annates
Cambri(E and Old Welsh Genealogies, from Harl. MS.
3859 (F Cymmrodor, ix, 141), in the notes which he has
added to the articles by Mr. J. E. Lloyd and Mr. William
Edwards (F Cymmrodor, xi, pp. 15-101), and in the
masterly article on the publication of Welsh Historical
Records {Y Cymmrodor, xi, pp. 133-175)- Research into
the origins of the Arthurian romance must always be
based in part upon the early Welsh historical documents,

* These form the third volume of Dr. Sommer's edition of the Morte
Darthur.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 405

and it is indispensable to know what is their oldest
and most authentic form, and what changes the state-
ments contained in them have undergone. This know-
ledge is conveyed to us with a precision and accuracy
beyond all praise in Mr. Phillimore's articles.

The publication of Old-Welsh texts which is being con-
tinued by Mr. Gwenogvryn Evans and Prof Rhys concerns
at present the student of language rather than the student
of fable. It is, however, upon their text of the Red Book
version of the Mabinogion that M. Loth has based his
French version. Experts are generally agreed that this
translation represents the Welsh original more fully and
more closely than does the English one by Lady Guest.
It is, moreover, provided with a translation of the Triads
arranged according to the sources, of the Annals and
Genealogies printed by Mr. Phillimore in the Cymmrodor,
and of various other documents which throw light upon the
mediaeval Welsh tales. M. Loth is well read in Welsh
literature, and his commentary derived from this source is
at once fuller and more precise than that of Lady Guest's
edition. When to these merits the advantages of cheap-
ness and accessibility are added, it may easily be under-
stood that M. Loth's translation has rapidly become the
vulgate to which all scholars refer as they do to Mr. Evans
and Prof Rhys' edition of the original. It has, however,
defects to which attention should be called. The com-
mentary is sadly to seek in all that concerns the study of
comparative literary history ; here M. Loth has practically
ignored all recent research and contented himself with
reproducing Lady Guest's notes. But my chief complaint
is with the version itself M. Loth has striven to reproduce
the Welsh text as closely as possible. This is well, but a
translation should be something more than a crib, it should
aim at conveying the tone and spirit as well as the letter
of the original. My Welsh friends tell me that the Mabin-
ogion are, in their native dress, a work of rare and exqui-
site literary beauty. This beauty, which has passed entire

4o6 Celtic Alyih and Saga.

into Lady Guest's version, one of the chief masterpieces of
prose romantic narrative in the language, has disappeared
utterly in M. Loth's French translation. We might set this
down to the marked inferiority of modern French for pur-
poses of romantic narrative but for the fact that M. de la
Villemarque has produced a most graceful and charming
version of some of these tales. It will be said, I know, that
he contented himself with putting Lady Guest's English
into French. Perhaps he did. But compare his version of
Geraint and Enid with that of M. Loth. Nine-tenths of
the differences are simply stylistic ; they in nowise affect
our appreciation of the subject-matter, but they do make
M. Loth's French bald and tedious to an intolerable degree.
1 most willingly admit the value of many of M. Loth's
changes, I gladly concede that his version is indispensable
to the non-Welsh student of the Mabmogion, but surely
the positive mistakes made by Lady Guest might have
been corrected ; surely, where her freedom misrepresents the
original, closeness might have been obtained without sacri-
ficing every trait of the beauty which those who know the
original declare it possesses, I trust M. Loth will pardon
the vivacity of my censure, but to me the Mahinogion are
one of the most precious heritages of beauty which the past
has bequeathed to us, and I cannot bear to see this heritage
sacrificed to a pedantic and, as I believe, mistaken idea
of the translator's art.

I now come to Prof Zimmer's studies, a list of and brief
reference to which will be found in my apologia, printed in
the Revue Celtique ^ d^nd reprinted FOLK-LORE, vol. ii. It
is characteristic that the motive-power of these masterly
investigations should be opposition to what the author
evidently regards as a false and pestilent heresy, namely
M. Gaston Paris's hypothesis as to the origin of the French
Arthurian literature. This the great French scholar
regarded as the outcome of contact between the Anglo-
Norman poets and Celtic romance consequent upon the

1 April 1 89 1.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 407

Norman conquest of England and settlement in Southern
Wales. He assumed that the French verse and prose
romances of the late twelfth century had been preceded
by shorter Anglo-Normanic narrative poems, akin some-
what to the lais of Marie de France.^

The thesis which, in opposition to M. Gaston Paris, Prof.
Zimmer set himself to prove is no new one ; it is that the
French minstrels drew their knowledge of Arthur and his
warriors not from Wales and Cornwall, but from Brittany.
But what is new is the convincing way in which it is worked
out, and the consequences drawn from it. Firstly, the
formative period of the romance, which was to be elaborated
later by the French poets, is defined as that during which
the Bretons were in close political and social contact with
the Normans (ninth-eleventh centuries), resulting in a
bilingual zone, to the wandering minstrels of which the
stories in their present form may often be traced. Secondly,
the French Arthurian romance is due to the slow elabora-
tion of tales and lyrics brought with them to Armorica
by the British emigrants of the sixth-seventh centuries,
which gradually put off their original quasi-historic char-
acter, and were profoundly modified by later vicissitudes
in the national life of the Bretons. Thirdly, after the
Norman Conquest this specific Breton form of the Arthur
hero-tales was brought to England and Wales by the
Breton allies of the Conqueror, and influenced the more
historic form of these tales which had been preserved by
the Welsh. Fourthly, the features in which the Breton
form differs from the Welsh ones must be ascribed to the
widening of the Breton horizon which follovved the emi-
gration to the Continent and to the contact with Gallo-
Frankish civilisation ; such features must be used with
great caution, if at all, as evidence for Celtic belief and
fancy.

I do not think that this brief summary either mis-

1 The last chapter of Prof. Rhys's Arthurian Studies deals with the
views of Prof. Zimmer and of M. Gaston Paris.

4o8 Celtic Myth and Saga.

represents the results which arise out of rather than are
definitely stated in Prof. Zimmer's pages, or that it fails to
mark their importance and interest. Should I not have
done justice to Prof. Zimmer in these respects it is from
lack of skill and not of will. Nor should I fail to note
that the value of his investigations depends only slightly
upon the correctness of his results. He has cross-examined
the documents far more searchingly than any previous
scholar ; he has been indefatigable in ransacking the
records of the sixth-eleventh centuries with a view to
providing an historical basis for this or that episode
of the romances ; he is always ingenious in detail, most
ingenious perhaps when he is substantially contra-
dicting himself It will be understood that merits such
as these cannot be adequately exhibited in the few pages
at my disposal. Let me then note that much of the
evidence is philological ; thus, the forms of names in many
French Arthurian romances are shown to be Breton and not
Welsh, as is also the case, partly, with Geoffrey of Mon-
mouth and William of Malmesbury. Prof Zimmer is a
believer in the Northern locale of the original Arthur-tales,
and makes ingenious use of the fact that this locale may
readily be distinguished in the French romances — the
Bretons, whose historical connection with Britain ceased
with the seventh century, preserved it better than the Welsh,
the centre of whose political history was shifted from
Northern to South-Western Britain, and who gradually
came to look upon Arthur as a South-Welsh chieftain.
Welsh literature, even of the oldest class, is shown to be
comparatively modern in its present form ; for instance, the
tale of Kulhwch and Olwen, and the Triads of the Horses
in the Black Book, are shown to allude to post-Conquest
personages.

When the reader frees himself from the avalanche of
detail under which Prof Zimmer overwhelms him, he is
apt, however, to ask himself if the result of the German
scholar's labours is quite what the latter thinks it to be.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 409

Does his theory ejith'ely exclude that of M. Gaston Paris ?
Does it bear all the conclusions drawn from it, implicitly
rather than explicitly, it should be noted ? The French
verse and prose narrativesof the twelfth century may go back
exclusively to Breton lais — does this prove that the Arthur
saga was originally historic in its essence, and that the
later romantic developments are exclusively Breton. In
the course of centuries the Breton forms may, indeed must
have grown differently from the Welsh ones — does that
prov'e that every specific Breton feature is, if not non-
Celtic, at least foreign to the original form of the legend ?
Thus Prof. Zimmer regards the passing of Arthur to
Avalon as specifically Breton, as foreign to the historical
spirit of the original Arthur tales. Yet who more than
Prof Zimmer in his studies on the Brendan legend has
thrown clearer light upon that Celtic presentment of the
Otherworld and of the hero's journey thither of which
the whole Av^alon episode is such an unmistakable variant.''
Again, Erec and Lancelot are held to be purely Breton.
Granted for argument's sake that they do not appear in the
Welsh record, does that prove that they cannot be elabora-
tions of old Celtic heroes, that Erec must be derived from
the sixth-century Visigoth chief of Aquitaine, Euric, or
Lancelot from the ninth-century Carolingian warrior, Lant-
bert }

I should be sorry indeed if Prof. Zimmer had denied
himself these latter hypotheses ; in working them out
he forces his readers into by-paths of history which the
majority would otherwise never tread. But what single
shred of positive evidence is brought forward in support
of the equation Lancelot = Lantbert ? Not one. In what
respect does the equation explain the story we find in the
twelfth-century French poets ? In no single one. Accept
every assertion of Prof Zimmer's, and we are as far as
ever from realising the nature of the Lancelot episode.
For that we must turn to the scholar of whom Prof. Zim-

4IO Celtic Myth and Saga.

mer speaks with an arrogance it is charitable to treat
humorously, to M. Gaston Paris.^

Nowhere does Prof. Zimmer explicitly state that Brit-
tany, open to every wind of influence, was closed to even
a breath from the older Celtdom of the British Isles. But
this is implied in numberless turns of argument, which,
without this implication, lose all point. Yet he himself has
furnished the strongest argument against this view. In
his progress through the Arthurian Walhalla he encoun-
ters Tristan. The traditional view of this hero is known
to all — nephew of the fifth-sixth century Cornish kinglet,
Mark, rescuer of his land from the tribute laid upon it by
the Irish, wooer of the Irish princess Iseult for his uncle,
and, as her lover, the most famous exemplar of over-
mastering passion in all literature.

But Prof Zimmer points out that the name of Tristan
himself and of his father (Talhwch in the Welsh tradition)
are Pictish, and that whilst we know of no Picts in fifth-
sixth century Cornwall, we do know of several historical
Drests and Drestans and Talorcs in eighth-ninth cen-
tury Pictland, i.e., roughly speaking, North-East Scotland ;
moreover, the names of Iseult and of her kinsmen are
Teutonic, and whilst there can have been no Teutonic
dwellers in fifth-century Ireland, Ireland in the ninth and
tenth centuries was largely occupied by Norse and Danish
Vikings. History again, silent respecting any fifth-century
wars between Ireland and Cornwall, has preserved a full
record of several raids into Pictland made by the Danish
Vikings and of the tribute they levied. Prof. Zimmer
reasons that the historical basis of the Tristan story is
furnished by the exploits of a ninth-century Pictish hero
who signalised himself in the wars against the Dublin
Vikings. He conjectures that the story first became
known in South Britain after the Conqueror's expedition
against Malcolm in 1072, was disseminated through South
Wales in the expeditions of 1072 and 1081, passed into

^ Romania, vol. x.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 4 1 1

Brittany, where it was profoundly modified, Tristan being
provided with a Breton parentage and home, and where
in all probability it was worked into the Arthur saga.

Such is a very bare summary of this brilliant and fasci-
nating hypothesis. I must leave the criticism of it to
those who are more familiar than I am with the oldest
French forms of the Tristan story. I would merely note
that evidence, which Prof. Zimmer himself quotes, shows
that the saga must have been current in Wales before
108 1, and probably before 1072. Moreover, that no light
is thrown upon the curious Welsh traditions concerning
Tristan, traditions which cannot either be explained from
the French romances. But let us accept his results and
see what bearing they have upon his general theory of the
Arthurian romance. Here is a story, originating in these
islands, unknown in Brittany before the close of the
eleventh century, and yet the oldest French forms are
Breton in locale and characterisation of the personages.
What reliance then can be placed upon Breton traits in
other branches of the romances as evidence of their spe-
cific Breton and non-insular origin .'' What has happened
once may have happened more than once — the early spe-
cific Breton lais to which Prof. Zimmer traces back the
French romances may be, as he himself claims that the
Tristan lais are, mere Bretonised variants of insular
originals.

Thus whilst admitting in a very large measure the
validity of Prof Zimmer's claims on behalf of the Breton
element in the formation of the Arthurian romance, I
cannot but think that he has often misinterpreted the
nature of that element, that he has exaggerated the con-
sequences to be drawn from the facts he has stated, and
that he has unduly depreciated the influence of the insular
element. Be this, however, as it may, the services he has
rendered to the study of the cycle are of extreme value,
and for years to come his investigations must form the
basis of further research.

412 Celtic Myth and Saga.

It is interesting to pass from Prof. Zimmer to Prof. Rhys.
No two scholars could be well more unlike in certain
respects ; both are equally penetrating and suggestive, in
both, not infrequently, their very ingenuity makes them bad
guides for the layman. The German, as he himself says,
has a horror of the mazy whirlings of comparative myth-
ology ; no one threads these mazes with greater boldness
or delight than the Welshman. The German is anxious to
place every text, and every line of every text, and every
word of every line, in its precise historical environment ;
it is often impossible to glean from the Welshman any
opinion concerning the origin and date of composition of
the text upon which he relies. It cannot be denied that
by the historical method alone can we ultimately hope to
gain a clear and orderly view of Celtic mythic literature as
a whole, but when we have reached that view it will be
found, t believe, that Prof Rhys has often penetrated to
the heart of the subject by a process that looks like guess-
work, chiefly because the results only, and not the steps,
are exhibited to us. In the Oxford professor's ArtJmrian
Studies the defects of his method are more apparent than
in any other of his works. In his Hibbert Lectures he
relied largely upon the early Irish sagas and upon the non-
Arthurian Mabinogion, which bring their archaic credentials,
so to say, with them ; in the present volume he uses the
Arthurian Welsh tales, the sixth-thirteenth century Welsh
poetry, and the Welsh triadic literature. Discussion is
still rife respecting the origin and nature of these three
groups of texts ; the least, it would seem, we had a right to
expect from perhaps the only man who can give a sound
guess at what much of the early Welsh poetry means, is
that he should state a working theory respecting this and
the other literature upon which he bases his arguments.
As if to complete the reader's dissatisfaction, he is told
in the preface that " many things would have been
handled differently had Prof Zimmer's studies appeared
earlier". What things ? Possibly some of the points

Celtic Myth and Saga. 413

upon which the author has lavished most ingenuity and
trouble.

It is natural that this candour on Prof. Rhys's part
should have greatly disconcerted his critics, and that
practically his work should have been put on one side.
Yet I am convinced that never have a larger number of
pregnant suggestions with regard to the Arthurian romance
been brought together than in these pages. But it requires
a trained and critical spirit to turn them to account. As
it is impossible to criticise any of Prof. Rhys's theories
without going into those questions of date and origin of
documents which he passes over almost entirely, I propose
to show how others have dealt with these questions, and
then to note the relation of Prof Rhys's views to their
theories.

Prof Zimmer, we have seen, is concerned with the
immediate rather than with the ultimate origin of the
French Arthurian literature ; as regards the Wetsk Arthu-
rian texts he is content to show that many of them cannot
have been written, as we possess them, before the twelfth
century. In respect of the old Welsh poetry nothing has
been done by way of criticism, nothing, outside Prof
Rhys's studies, by way of exegesis. In respect of the
Mabinogion proper nothing fresh has been done in so
far as they interest the folk-lorist. It is in respect of the
Arthurian Welsh tales that criticism has been active,
especially in respect of the three which are undoubtedly
connected in some way with the poems of Crestien de
Troies. In my last report I noted Herr Othmer's attempt to
prove that the tale of Geraint and Enid is a mere abridged
translation of the Frenchman's Erec. Since then M.
Gaston Paris has gone over the same ground {Romania,
Oct. 1891), and has shown most convincingly that Herr
Othmer is wrong, and that the Welsh tale frequently
represents a more archaic stage of the story than the
French poem. Herr Golther has endeavoured to traverse
M. Paris's conclusions, but has merely succeeded in showing

414 Celtic Myth and Saga.

how difficult it is for some scholars to retreat from a posi-
tion they have once taken up.

An unexpected contribution has been made to the
Peredur question by a young German scholar, Dr. Paul
Hagen, writing in Gerrnania. Readers of my Grail legend
may recollect that I claimed this Welsh tale as representing,
in part, a purer version of one of the motifs worked into
the Conte del Graal of Crestien de Troies, but contaminated
with incidents and passages derived from that poem. For
this I was taken to task by Dr. Golther, who asserted the
entire dependence of the Welsh tale upon the French
poem. I may fairly claim to have disproved this assertion,^
which is indeed absolutely untenable. Dr. Hagen brings
forward fresh arguments in disproof of Dr. Golther's
theory, and is indeed quite at one with me respecting the
anteriority of the Welsh tale. But according to him it is
the homogeneous adaptation of a pre-Crestien French work
based upon Breton lais and prose tales, which also served
as the main source both of Crestien and of the lost French
original of Wolfram von Eschenbach. The difficulty lies,
it will be seen, in the fact that Welsh and French texts
have features in common which point to a definite literary
connection. I explain these features as due to the
influence of the French poem upon an already existing
Welsh tale ; Dr. Hagen, as due to derivation from a
common original. I fully see the difficulties of my ex-
planation, and I grant that Dr. Hagen has criticised it
acutely and vigorously. But destructive criticism is no-
where easier than in dealing with this inextricably tangled
literature. The difficulty is to construct a theory that will
fairly fit the facts. Has Dr. Hagen fully reasoned out his
theory ? I doubt it. We both agree that the Welsh tale
must belong to an earlier stage than the French poem,
because it gives in orderly and coherent sequence incidents
of which a shadowy jumble is all that exists in French.

1 In the already cited article, Revue Cel/igue, April 1891 ; FOLK-
LORE, June 189!.

Celtic Myth and Saga. 4 1 5

From this jumble, as we find it in Crestien and his con-
tinuators, we can pick out a story akin to, but not identical
with that in the Welsh work. But if Crestien had the
hypothetical original of Peredur before him, how comes his
own narrative to be so confused and unintelligible ; how is
it in especial that his continuators go off on half-a-dozen
different tracks ? Did they know nothing of this original ?
If not, how comes it that portions of it are to be recovered
from them alone, there being nothing in Crestien's portion
of the Conte del Graal that could give rise to them ? More-
over, the Welsh tale contains incidents (to one of w^hich
the only known parallel is in the eighth-ninth century
Irish Voyage of Mael Duin) which are absolutely unknown
to any existing French romance. Would this be the case
if it represented the original of such a famous work as the
Conte del Graal f I sincerely welcome Dr. Hagen as a
fellow-worker in this obscure field of literary history, but I
cannot admit that he has convinced me as yet, and I still
hold to my explanation of the Peredur problem, namely,
that the Welsh tale is in the main the oldest extant form
of the Perceval story, but that, as it has come down to us,
it is comparatively late (say 1230- so), and has been in-
fluenced by the writings of the leading European poet of
the twelfth century.

Now how does Prof Rhys stand with regard to these
questions ? He analyses the stories of Owain and Peredur
minutely (chapters iv, v), and resolves them into variant
versions of a nature-myth, an Irish analogue to which he
finds in the dealings of Cuchulainn with the Morrigu. But
to do this he is obliged to have recourse to considerable
modification of the stories in their present form, and he
justifies such modification on the ground that the Welsh
versions have been influenced by the French ones. In so
far he countenances those who contend for the secondary
nature of these two Welsh tales. But it will be admitted,
I think, that it is perilous in the extreme to postulate
modification save when it is vouched for by positive and

4 1 6 Celtic Myth ana Saga.

unmistakable facts, and to rely upon any mythological
theory that does not arise naturally and unforcedly out of
the documents. In this case too, the myth, as reconstructed
by Prof. Rhys, is open to grave objection from the side
of the orthodox nature-mythologists. Prof Rhys has
further embarrassed himself by what I cannot but regard
as a wholly chimerical attempt to